We are all different: insights from osteoporosis research in Asia

Abstract

Osteoporosis only became a 'disease' entity in the 20th century. After the initial observations and definitions of osteoporosis based on Caucasian populations, systematic research in Asian populations started in the 1980s. Significant variations between different ethnic groups with respect to the rate of osteoporotic fractures, bone mineral density and disease risk factors emerged from the data; this article highlights some of the earlier important findings and the dissimilarities. Osteoporosis is therefore not a homogeneous disease across the world.

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“…By the late 1980s, research in OP in Asian populations was starting to be published, showing differences between Caucasian and Asian data in terms of absolute BMD values and fracture rates. 10 Many of these studies were from countries in East Asia such as China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan and South Korea which have a long history of established research. Further south, is the South-East Asia (SEA) region, an area of Asia that encompasses Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Myanmar.…”