Bone health initiative aims to stop osteoporosis

By Martha Kerr

HONOLULU (Reuters Health) - A public health initiative called American Bone Health was launched this week at the 29th annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

ASBMR past-president Dr. Claude Arnaud, who is also president of the Foundation for Osteoporosis Research and Education (FORE) of Oakland, California, and the American Bone Health organization, announced the launch of the initiative. It is designed to educate the public and to encourage doctors to monitor and advise their patients about the importance of bone health, the status of their bone mineral density and to calculate their fracture risk.

Half of women and nearly one-quarter of men will develop osteoporosis, and the numbers will climb with the increasing lifespan of the American public. Arnaud said awareness also needs to be raised about the importance of maintaining bone health among younger people.

"Prevention is the key," Arnaud told Reuters Health. "We need to start with kids. Teaching children between the ages of 9 and 19 will make all the difference in prevention."

"One of the biggest problems we have now is the way we are getting our children involved in excessive, competitive sports," Arnaud continued. "The effect is like anorexia, where it creates an energy imbalance. This has adverse effects on the total body, and especially on bone during periods of growth."

It takes a one-on-one interaction, between healthcare providers and patients, "to have a real impact on the public," Arnaud said. Physicians need to take a good dietary history and provide counseling.

"Pediatricians need to know the age-appropriate calcium requirements and intake of their patients...and patients need to be taught how to take calcium -- not to take it all at one time in the morning, since the body can only metabolize about 500 mg at one time," he pointed out.

Physicians should also assess fracture risk. There is a fracture risk calculator on the organization's website, at fore.org, Arnaud said. "Having a fracture is the single most important predictor of a second fracture."

He pointed out that osteoporosis is a significant burden on the healthcare system and an important contributor to a poor quality of life.