The National Osteoporosis Society has launched a new campaign aimed at improving diagnosis of the condition.
Its new report states that bone fractures caused by osteoporosis occur once every two minutes among over-50s in the UK and are most likely to happen in women.
However, a fifth of female patients had not been diagnosed with the disease until they had broken at least three bones, despite the fact that one in eight people will go on to experience another fracture within a year.
Chief executive of the National Osteoporosis Society Claire Severgnini said this trend is putting patients at risk of serious harm or even death if they break a bone in their back or hips.
The charity has launched its Stop At One campaign to raise awareness of a need for faster diagnosis.
'Those who are most vulnerable to osteoporosis and fragility fractures are often not aware of the condition or don't recognise the signs that they are at risk,' she pointed out.
Around three million people in Britain are thought to have osteoporosis, which causes more than 250,000 fractures every year.
Read more about Stop at One here