Osteoporosis has until now been considered to be a disease associated with abnormal calcium metabolism.However, an increasing number of clinical observations strongly suggest the association of iron overload with bone diseases, particularly in osteoporosis in menopausal women.The recent identification ofhepcidin sheds new light into the crucial role of iron homeostasis in bone metabolism.De creasing iron overload in cell studies as well as in animal experiments has been shown to improve bone cell metabo lism and growth in vitro and in vivo.In view of the signif icant iron overload found in the aging population, especially in females, the therapeutic potential of lowering iron over load for the treatment of osteoporosis is suggested.