A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association stakes claim, based off of analysis of Canadian hospitalization data, that the rate of hip fractures across the United States and Canda is on the decline.

The oddity about the declining rate is that researchers aren't exactly certain as to what the leading causes of the decline are. One would assume, as the researchers did, that the use of medicines and drugs such as biophosphonates, is the main ingredient in the equation however researchers found that the rate of decline started before most Canadian women began taking the drug, which was around the mid-1990s.

Some researchers attribute the growing girth of today's population, considering that usually the "thin and frail" population is most likely to have fractures. Another plausible cause is that nutrition and prosperity are better now than they were decades ago. Smoking is often another cause of osteoporosis and considering the massively declined rate in smoking, researchers believe that this could be a cause as well.

One thought to take from this study is the idea that sometimes diseases can be tempered with naturally, without copious quantities of drugs and medicines. While osteoporosis research should, by all means, continue, it's important to keep in mind that 'natural' evolutions in regular life -- of course, all based on scientific research -- can alter how devastating a disease can be.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/health/26hips.html?_r=1&ref=health