Diagnosis and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis and osteoporosis in men: German guidelines update 2006

The treatment of osteoporosis and prevention of osteoporotic fractures consists of both non-drug and drug therapy. Components of non-drug therapy include the improvement of muscle strength and coordination, treatment of modifiable causes of falls, a diet rich in calcium and sufficient in calories, an adequate supply of Vitamin D and an individual assessment of drugs known to increase falls or osteoporosis. The updated DVO diagnostic and treatment guidelines for osteoporosis recommends a 30% 10-year probability for vertebral and hip fractures as an intervention threshold for drug treatment. Using epidemiological fracture data from central Europe, the guidelines provides an assessment of absolute 10-year fracture risk based on a combination of age, gender, prevalent fragility fractures, spine and total hip dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements and several other clinical risk factors. © 2007 Springer Medizin Verlag.