Osteoporosis NZ: Many Issues Affect Bone Health

MEDIA RELEASE Monday 19 October 2009

Many common medical conditions also cause bones to become weak and brittle. These include conditions not directly related to bone health such as type 1 diabetes, Coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and dementia.

Many of these conditions result in either decreased movement (which in turn weakens bone strength), increased risk of falls, or they directly affect growing bone or essential nutrient absorption. Many medications to treat these conditions also interfere with healthy bone maintenance.

People with Type 1 diabetes, for example, often have low bone density. This is thought to be because insulin (which is lacking in type 1 diabetes) plays an important part in normal bone growth and strength.

Good bone health also requires good nutrition – especially adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D. It’s hard for the body to absorb the required amounts of calcium when the small bowel is not working well such as in untreated Coeliac disease or other inflammatory bowel conditions.

Likewise, rheumatoid arthritis can limit mobility and dementia can increase susceptibility to knocks and falls.

Many medications, such as anti-inflammatory drugs and certain steroids, commonly taken to control syptoms of these conditions, also have a direct effect on the development and maintenance of healthy bone tissue.

For Julia Gallagher, Chief Executive of Osteoporosis New Zealand, it’s important for people to be aware of this link:

“People with other medical conditions are not always aware of their increased risk for also developing osteoporosis – a condition can further severly affect independence and enjoyment of life.”

“It’s important for everyone – and especially people with these conditions to get adequate dietary calcium and vitamin D, take regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight, limit risk factors such as smoking, and have their bone density checked.”

Today marks the start of International Osteoporosis Awareness Week. Osteoporosis is the progressive loss of bone density, making bones lace-like and brittle, resulting in painful and debilitating fractures with the slightest knock or fall. Fractures of the wrist, spine and hip are the most common. In New Zealand over half of women and nearly one third of men over the age of 60 will suffer a fracture due to osteoporosis. This rate will be even higher amongst those with the conditions mentioned above.

For more information, please visit the following website:

http:// http://www.bones.org.nz

About Osteoporosis New Zealand

Osteoporosis New Zealand Inc is a not for profit organisation that was launched on October 20 1999.

We were formed to raise awareness and knowledge of osteoporosis and to provide a national “voice” for those with osteoporosis and those at risk of developing this bone disease.

Osteoporosis New Zealand is a young organisation; we have just celebrated our tenth birthday. Our aims are to:

* Promote bone health to all New Zealanders.

*Prevent New Zealanders from breaking bones needlessly.

*Grow – so that we can better support New Zealanders with osteoporosis, better inform people about what they can do to prevent it and more effectively lobby government to add osteoporosis to the list of critical public health issues affecting New Zealanders.

*Improve access to bone scans, so that people at risk of osteoporosis can get a bone scans and not have to pay for it.

*Ensure that people who have been diagnosed with osteoporosis get the right treatment. We want the drugs currently funded to be available more readily, with current restrictions eased. We also want additional medications made available - different drugs affect people differently, so choice is necessary.

*Inform all New Zealanders about the risks of developing osteoporosis – and what they can do about it.

ENDS

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