One winter afternoon, when I was 16 or so, my mom and I took a walk around our block. In the middle of an argument, we stepped off the curb, and I said something mean. Being a teenager, I was good at that. My mom whirled around and, as she did, she slipped, fell on the ice, and broke her arm.
Beyond the Pandemic, Another Major Health Threat to Older Americans Looms
In the United States, 54 million people age 50 and over either have or are at risk of developing osteoporosis. Approximately one in two women and up to one in four men over the age of 50 will break a bone in her or his remaining lifetime. These injuries can cripple and even kill older Americans, as almost one in three hip-fracture patients and about 20 percent of all fracture patients die within a year.