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Osteoporosis in the UK

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disorder. It is defined as a disease in which the bones become extremely porous, are subject to fracture, and heal slowly Its occurrence is more prominent in women following menopause and can often lead to curvature of the spine from vertebral collapse. All men and women have some risk of developing osteoporosis with advanced age. Factors that increase risk have been identified as having small bone structure, being a woman past the age of menopause, a strong family history of osteoporosis or a personal history of fracture, long periods of dieting or eating disorder, smoking or consuming a lot of alcohol, an inactive lifestyle, or having had a condition that causes poor mobility.

Osteoporosis currently affects over three million people in the UK. The National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) is a charity that has been established to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this bone disease. The NOS has a unique role. It draws together the many health and social care disciplines involved in osteoporosis. They provide information to those who are affected, or just curious about the disease. Often when one is diagnosed they want to get all the information that they can. The organization also has a network of 120 support groups that are run by people who are affected by osteoporosis, for the benefit of people with the disease. They meet on a regular basis to offer support. The key part of the charity's work is to encourage UK governments and health services to resource and deliver appropriate services to prevent and treat broken bones. The charity fundraises for research into osteoporosis to increase understanding of the disease and improve treatment options and patient care. They have been instrumental in improving the services of offer to local people, by lobbying local health service providers to fundraising to buy equipment for hospitals.

Osteoporosis occurs in about 5 in every 100 people in the UK. It is around four times more common in women than men. Of most consequence is that one in three women and one in twelve men over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture of the hip, wrist or spine as a result of osteoporosis. Hip and wrist fractures are the most common breakages, but they can occur in any bone. Osteoporosis can result in small fractures in the bones of your spine, causing a loss of height and a curved back. Up to half of hip fracture patients lose the ability to live independently, and up to 20% may die within six months as a result of the fracture. In total, osteoporosis causes 310,000 fractures in the UK every year. The estimated cost of treating these fractures is an enormous £1.7 billion each year. Many groups including General Practitioners have called on the government for help with funding for the education, prevention and treatment of this disease. Fortunately, the government has recognized the deficiencies that exist in osteoporosis management. More funding is slowly coming through to expand the services, to be used for bone scanning machines to help diagnosis as well as specialists in osteoporosis.