4" height loss necessarily due to osteoporosis? - Osteoporosis Message Board

lurudolph · 04-16-2008, 10:41 AM

One of the risk factors used in calculating fracture risk is whether there is any family history of osteoporosis. My first thought was "no" since I don't recall any fractures or posture problems, but then I remembered that the last time I saw my father before his death we were the same height, meaning he'd lost 4"! He was in his early 80s but seemed healthy and was playing golf the day before he died. So I'm wondering if that height loss could be due to anything other than osteoporosis.

AnnD · 04-16-2008, 10:53 AM

Yes, my husband lost 2 inches secondary to three back surgeries. Also just aging causes it...as does a life of hard physical labor. In the old days of dam building some men carried cement on their backs ...My uncle carried cement for years and it caused his back to compress.

lurudolph · 04-16-2008, 11:07 AM

Thanks AnnD. My father was a corporation attorney and the only things he lifted were a tennis racket and a golf club. So I guess that leaves aging or osteoporosis. But would aging alone account for the 4"?

AnnD · 04-18-2008, 10:11 AM

Perhaps it seemed like 4 inches but I doubt that much because at the time he was elderly you also had aged and shorten up some. The answer to your original and last question is yes there are many causes of shortening.... but as to your specific family member I seriously doubt it was 4 inches.

yellowdaisy · 05-05-2008, 04:06 AM

I believe I've read that the discs between the verterbrae kind of flatten out over the years, causing a height loss. My mother has lost height, she's 86, and she doesn't have osteoporosis because she recently had a bone density test. She seems to have lost about 4 inches to me.