Newsletters

Spring 2010

National Action Plan for Bone Health

 Osteoporosis is a common disease that affects about 10 million Americans, with 34 million more having low bone mass (“osteopenia”) that may lead to osteoporosis. The importance of osteoporosis is that it weakens bones and makes them more likely to break (fracture). The good news is that osteoporosis can be prevented and treated. It can be diagnosed easily before a bone breaks by having a bone density test. Effective, safe, and inexpensive medications are available to reduce the chances of a fracture occurring. The bad news is that most people who need a bone density test are not having it done, and many with osteoporosis are not being treated. Even when treatment is started, it is often not taken long enough to achieve the desired effect on the bones.

The US Surgeon General’s report on “Bone Health and Osteoporosis,” released in 2004, highlighted the tremendous progress in the field of osteoporosis and at the same time challenged us all to do better at treating this disease. If you never heard of this report, which is available for free online at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/bonehealth/, you are not alone. This superb report has not gotten the attention it deserves. The National Osteoporosis Foundation, a non-profit patient advocate organization based in Washington, DC, aims to correct this by means of an ambitious project called the “National Action Plan for Bone Health.”     

The goal of the Action Plan is to implement the recommendations
contained in the Surgeon General’s report. Components include pro-motion of bone health and osteo-porosis prevention at all ages; im-provment in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis, and expansion of research on osteoporosis.  Dr. E. Michael Lewiecki, Osteoporosis Director at New Mexico Clinical Research & Osteoporosis Center, is participating in the Action Plan as leader of a national task force entitled “Fracture as a Sentinel Event.” This task force is charged with enhancing awareness that a fracture is a very important event that deserves attention beyond having a cast or surgery to heal the broken bone. A fracture is a “bone attack” in patients with osteoporosis, just as a “heart attack” is seen in patients with high cholesterol and a stroke or “brain attack” occurs in some patients with high blood pressure. Having a fracture increases the risk of later having more fractures. A fracture may result in disability, death, and most worrisome of all for many of us- loss of independence.
     

Take care to avoid falling.  You may benefit from having a bone density test and lab test to find out more. Talk to your healthcare provider to see what needs to be done to evaluate your risk of future fractures and to take measures to make the odds of you having another fracture as low as possible.

E. Michael Lewiecki, MD                                    
Lance A. Rudolph, MD

This page update 9/12/10