Osteoporosis ‘is a Killer’
Aug 13, 2009 | Posted by in Family Health Care, Featured | 0 Comments
Dr Richard M Dell, orthopaedic surgeon at the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Centre, explains that the condition kills more people than some more headline-grabbing illnesses.
He claims that fractures caused by osteoporosis are responsible for more deaths than both cervical and breast cancer added together.
As many as one in three men and half of all women can expect to experience a fracture due to bone weakness at some point in their lifetime, he adds.
In a recent experiment, the medical centre aimed to reduce hip fractures in test subjects by 25 per cent or more.
But by following a number of interventions as described in their methodology, researchers achieved a reduction rate of 37 per cent on average – and up to 50 per cent in the most successful cases.
Among the simple steps linked with such a reduction were pro-active procedures such as identifying high-risk individuals and giving advice on health to sufferers about the condition itself and the threat of sustaining a fracture during a fall.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation recently criticised advice on health given to osteoporosis patients by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
According to the foundation, the NICE guidance neglects a number of high-risk groups who could otherwise benefit from treatment or expert advice.