How quickly can osteoporosis worsen if it remains untreated?

How quickly can osteoporosis worsen if it remains untreated?

Frederick Singer (Director of the Endocrine/Bone Disease Program, John Wayne Cancer Institute ) gives expert video advice on: What types of medications are used to treat osteoporosis?; Can osteoporosis be cured by medication?; Are there any treatments for osteoporosis that don't involve medication? and more...

The loss of bone in a post-menopausal woman who is not taking estrogen or any other medication is usually on the order of several percent, up to five percent per year, during the early post-menopausal years. Later, it's closer to one percent per year until perhaps one hundred years of age. This is not tremendously rapid, but it's really the chronicity that matters and if someone waits fifteen years after the menopause to start medicine, they could've lost a considerable amount of bone, and possibly have even had a fracture.