Osteoporosis is the silent disease affecting millions of people the world over. The World Osteoporosis Day is observed each year on the twentieth of October; this is with the aim of raising the health awareness on osteoporosis, ways of prevention, and available means of diagnosis and treatment for the disease. This year, The World Osteoporosis Day focuses on women, especially postmenopausal women, and their bone health, under the theme "Keep them Strong "; for they are the most group vulnerable to bone fractures.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) calls for taking three basic steps for preventing osteoporosis; they are regular exercising, making point of getting vitamin D, and high intake of calcium and protein. This is through adopting a balanced diet safeguarding against this disease as society is still in lack of general awareness on this disease. Further, such disease needs coordination at the awareness and educational levels; especially that previous efforts exerted in the last years came to fruition year-to-year in remarkably steady way. And through this Day, we seek to breathe life into events and activities in more than 90 countries all across the world.
Facts and Numbers:
- Most patients are unaware of suffering from osteoporosis; therefore, it is called "the silent disease".
- Osteoporosis fractures exceed 809 million cases annually, and it is globally estimated that there is a fracture resulting from bone thinning taking place each three seconds.
- A woman out of two women, and a man out of five men, over the age of fifty, experience fractures during the rest of their life.
- Facture cases resulting from osteoporosis in women, over the age of fifty and forty, lead to longer detaining in hospital compared to the periods related to other diseases, such as diabetes, heart attack, and breast cancer.
- Almost half of the individuals previously experiencing fracture as a result of osteoporosis will be afflicted by another one; this is due to increasing of the risk of being vulnerable to fractures.
- One in four women afflicted by recent fracture in vertebrae will experience another one in a year.
- Ten percent decrease of bone mass increases the likelihood of developing spine fractures to double and hip fractures to 2, 5 times.
- By the advent of 2050, rates of hip fracture injuries will increase in men by 31%, and in women by 24%.
- From 20% to 24% of those experiencing hip fractures die in the year next to fracture.
- More often than not, those surviving hip fractures experience loss of basic life activities and independence as 40% of them lose the ability to walk independently, and 60% of those injured rendered helpless in a year. And during the year next to the fracture, 33% of them are committed to care centers or become totally dependent on others. This in turn place a huge burden for the family members who cannot help but provide care for their dear ones themselves.
- Fractures form huge burden over the health care systems as they require long-term care.
- Osteoporosis can be prevented and injured cases can be treated; this is through adopting healthy behaviors and changing lifestyles.
Statistics of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
In a study conducted in the Saudi Arabia, in 1999, to 483 Saudi women, at postmenopausal age, ages 52-62 years, it was shown that the proportion of their bone decrease spread is 34%, and bone thinning is 24%.
World Date:
20/10/2013
Local Date:
15/12/1434h
Theme of the World Osteoporosis Day 2013:
"Keep them Strong"
Objectives and General Messages:
- Osteoporosis' link to menopause.
- Osteoporosis can be prevented by focusing on three steps:
- Regular exercising.
- Making point of getting enough vitamin D intakes.
- Following a balanced diet along with calcium rich foods.
- Early diagnosis and preventive treatment with the aim of preventing reaching the stage of spine fractures.
- Raising public awareness in terms of the risks resulting of osteoporosis.
- Drawing the attention to the necessity of making the osteoporosis-related preventive measures.
- Enhancing bone health by adopting a healthy lifestyle.
- Urging decision-makers to reduce osteoporosis incidence rates.
Targeted Group:
- Women
- Health professionals, physicians, and physicists
- Decision makers
- Media professionals
Logo of the World Osteoporosis Day
References and Websites that you can look at: