|
German
Osteoporosis Rates Up 30 Percent
Excerpt
By Jane
Burgermeister,
Reuters
Health
Osteoporosis is reaching epidemic
levels in Germany, according to a leading expert, who said on
Monday that doctors and the general public need to pay more attention
to the fragile bone disease.
Five to six million people in the
country are estimated to already have osteoporosis, said Dr. Walter
Fassbender from the University Clinic Frankfurt and an organizer
of this year's conference of the German Society for Internal Medicine
in Wiesbaden.
A huge increase in osteoporosis
incidence is due to a higher life expectancy, a diet low in calcium
and vitamin D as well as low levels of physical exercise, he told
Reuters Health.
"Osteoporosis was responsible for
70,000 hip fractures in 1998, but the disease was responsible
for 120,000 hip fractures in 2002. Levels of osteoporosis have
risen by 30 percent in just five years and we expect them to go
on rising at an accelerating rate," he said.
More than a million of those suffering
from osteoporosis in Germany are men.
"Half of men who are suffering
from the disease have secondary osteoporosis due to conditions
such as renal disease, a hyperactive thyroid and, most frequently,
hypogonadism," Fassbender said.
Furthermore, mortality rates due
to osteoporosis are under-recognized, he said.
Twenty percent of all those patients
who suffer hip fractures die within a year. Another 20 percent
of patients who suffer hip fractures are hospitalized for the
rest of their lives.
Fassbender also noted that 80 percent
of the 3 billion euros spent by the health system on osteoporosis
is used to treat patients with hip fractures.
"We must raise the awareness of
how widespread osteoporosis is. Doctors are often failing to diagnose
spinal fractures in patients, leaving many patients without proper
treatment," he said.
He said that a balanced diet with
adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D as well as plenty of
exercise all helped to protect against brittle bones.
In addition to a balanced diet
and regular exercise, Fassbender said that selective oestrogen
modulators and bisphosphonates are two effective therapeutic options
for treating osteoporosis.
Reference
Source 89
For
more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
|
