Important Facts Women Should Know About Postmenopausal Osteoporosis {Interview}
Each year during Bone and Joint Health National Action Week (Oct 12-20), activities are held across the country to raise awareness about prevention, disease management and treatment of disorders including arthritis, back pain and osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a disease that makes a person’s bones weak and more likely to break.[i] Nearly 8 million women in the US over the age of 50 are impacted by osteoporosis.[ii] And, nearly 1 in 2 of these women will have a fragility fracture (or low-impact fracture that is often the result of a fall from standing height or lower) in her remaining lifetime.i Osteoporosis-related fractures cause more women 55 and older to be hospitalized each year in the US than breast cancer, heart attacks or strokes.[iii]
For postmenopausal women, it’s important that seemingly insignificant or accidental fragility fractures – like in the wrist – are not dismissed as clumsiness but are recognized as a sign that it could be something more – such as postmenopausal osteoporosis.[iv]
In the year following an osteoporotic vertebral fracture, postmenopausal women are at heightened risk for subsequent fractures.[v] Often, younger women (in their 50s and 60s) mistakenly categorize postmenopausal osteoporosis as an “inevitable part of aging” – but that may not be true.[vi] Younger postmenopausal women can suffer fragility fractures (i.e., wrist), which should be a warning sign of disease progression.iv Luckily, there are treatment options available for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at high risk for fracture.
Join me in a recent interview with Dr. Mary Oates, who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis, as she discussed the importance of raising awareness of postmenopausal osteoporosis and its connection to fracture. Dr. Oates also touched base on how to identify the warning signs and discuss a prescription treatment option that may help.
See the entire interview here:
For more information, go to www.bonenews.com.
Dr. Mary Oates Bio
Dr. Mary Oates is a board-certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist. She is also a certified clinical densitometrist and reads more than 100 DXA scans weekly. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis in her Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo offices. She is the founder of the Marian and French Hospital Osteoporosis Centers and fracture liaison services. She is a volunteer faculty member at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California in the Department of Nutrition where she advises research in the field of body composition and nutrition. She serves as clinical faculty for the Marian Family Medicine residency program in Santa Maria, California. She is actively involved with community education and outreach projects aimed at the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. She has participated in several osteoporosis pharmaceutical research studies and observational Body Composition studies using DXA for the evaluation of bone, muscle, and fat. She is a published author in the field of osteoporosis and body composition. She is on the Bone Research and Clinical Advisory panel to NASA to advise on bone and muscle health during space flight. She is an active member or the International Society of Clinical Densitometry, and serves as the co-chairman for the ISCD body composition committee. She is a new trustee for the National Osteoporosis Foundation and serves as The Accountable Executive for Research for Dignity Health of The Central Coast service area and is the new Medical Director for Dignity Health Research Institute for California and Nevada. She has enjoyed opportunities in the past to consult for the NFL, the US Olympic Training Center, the International Olympic Medical Committee, and the NBC TV show “The Biggest Loser.” In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends and dogs on the beautiful Central Coast of California.
[i] NOF. Osteoporosis Fast Facts. NOF. https://cdn.nof.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Osteoporosis-Fast-Facts.pdf. Accessed March 21, 2017
[ii] Wright NC, Looker AC, Saag KG, et al. The Recent Prevalence of Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in the United States Based on Bone Mineral Density at the Femoral Neck or Lumbar Spine. JBMR. 2014;29(11):2520-2526.
[iii] Singer A, Exuzides A, Spangler L, et al. Burden of illness for osteoporotic fractures compared with other serious diseases among postmenopausal women in the United States. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90(1):53-62.
[iv] Anderson, PA, Reitman, C, Jeray KJ. Own the bone: Spine practitioners’ opportunity in managing patients with fragility fractures. SpineLine. 2015. http://www.spineline-digital.org/spineline/july_august_2015?pg=14#pg14. Accessed July 10, 2017
[v] Lindsay R, Silverman SL. Risk of New Vertebral Fracture in the Year Following a Fracture. JAMA. 2001;285(3):320-323
[vi] International Osteoporosis Foundation. OsteoLink survey key findings. https://www.iofbonehealth.org/osteolink-survey-key-findings. Accessed December 2, 2016
*Interview is courtesy of Radius Health, Inc.
