World Osteoporosis Day 2011
Three Steps to Strong Bones

This year's World Osteoporosis Day campaign theme, under the banner of 'Love your Bones' reminds everyone to take three essential steps towards osteoporosis prevention5:
  1. Do daily weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercise
  2. Ensure you are getting enough vitamin D
    • Exposure to sunlight
    • Vitamin D-fortified foods (e.g., milk and cereals)
    • Vitamin D supplements
    • Calcium supplements containing vitamin D
  3. Eat a balanced diet with plenty of calcium-rich foods
    • Dairy products
    • Some green vegetables,
    • Calcium-fortified foods (e.g., some juices and cereals)
    • Calcium supplements

What you can do on World Osteoporosis Day

  • Support your national osteoporosis organizations.
  • Most important of all - ensure that you're following the three steps to strong bones! And if you feel you may be at risk of osteoporosis, visit your doctor for a clinical assessment.

This Thursday, October 20th is World Osteoporosis Day and Amgen is encouraging you to make your bone health a priority. This annual disease awareness day is organized by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and aims to raise global awareness of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.

What is Osteoporosis?

Bones are living tissue with an outer surface of dense bone covering a “sponge”-like inner bone. Your bones form the framework for your body. They enable you to move, and help protect your internal organs.

Osteoporosis is a disease when bone loss occurs faster than bone formation. After menopause, a decrease in estrogen triggers a rapid rise in bone-eroding cells which decrease bone density and strength. In fact, women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone density in the five to seven years after menopause begins1. This decreased bone density weakens the bone and puts women at higher risk for broken bones1.

Osteoporosis Fast Facts2,3

  • Worldwide, an osteoporotic fracture is estimated to occur every 3 seconds, a vertebral fracture every 22 seconds
  • Osteoporosis affects an estimated 75 million people in Europe, USA and Japan
  • 1 in 2 women over 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture in her lifetime
  • A prior fracture is associated with an 86% increased risk of any fracture

Are You At Risk for Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is under-diagnosed and under-treated. There are certain risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing osteoporosis and fractures.1,4 These include:

  • Advanced age
  • Being female
  • Men can also be at risk; up to one in four men over age 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.5
  • Family history of osteoporosis
  • Parent history of hip fracture
  • Thin and/or have a small frame
  • Having rheumatoid arthritis
  • Estrogen deficiency including menopause
  • Low lifetime calcium intake
  • High caffeine intake
  • Vitamin D deficiency
  • Use of certain medications (corticosteroids, chemotherapy, anticonvulsants and others)
  • Inactive lifestyle
  • Smoking (active or passive)
  • Excessive use of alcohol (3+ drinks/day)

Diagnosis

It is important for women to work with their healthcare providers to determine whether they have postmenopausal osteoporosis and if they are at increased risk for fractures. A diagnosis can involve one or more of the following steps1:

  • Medical history
  • Physical examination
  • Bone mineral density test, the most common method is with a DXA (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) scan
  • Laboratory tests

Managing Your Disease

Women living with osteoporosis today expect to remain active, independent and in control of their lives as they mature. Eating well, exercising, taking calcium and vitamin D, and maintaining a positive outlook are all important for staying healthy. In addition, education and active management of bone health is crucial.

There are several treatments available for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, and new therapies are also in development. People with osteoporosis should assess how well their bones are responding to treatment by talking to their doctor regularly and having their bones re-tested. Osteoporosis may seem like a silent force working behind the scenes to weaken your bones, but it doesn't have to be. Education is the first step in fighting this silent, progressive disease that strikes the foundation of the body.

Visit www.KnowMyBones.com or www.WorldOsteoporosisDay.org for more information.

  1. National Osteoporosis Foundation. Available at: http://www.nof.org. Accessed on October 14, 2011.
  2. International Osteoporosis Foundation. Facts and statistics about osteoporosis and its impact. Available at: http://www.iofbonehealth.org/facts-and-statistics.html. Accessed on October 14, 2011.
  3. US Department of Health and Human Services. Bone Health and Osteoporosis: An Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2004.
  4. National Osteoporosis Foundation. Clinician’s Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis. 2008.
  5. World Osteoporosis Day. Available at: http://www.worldosteoporosisday.org. Accessed on October 14, 2011.