Osteoporosis Website Launched

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2009

A comprehensive discussion of osteoporosis, its symptoms, prevention, and other factors can be found on a new University of Illinois Extension website. "Osteoporosis" (http://urbandev.extension.uiuc.edu/osteoporosis/) also includes information on establishing a "bone-healthy diet."

"This excellent resource was developed by Karen Chapman-Novakovski, Professor, Nutrition and Extension Specialist; Shirley Camp, Extension Educator, Nutrition and Wellness; and Karen Plawecki, Teaching Associate, Dietetics, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois," said Jane Scherer, U of I Extension urban programming specialist and director of its websites.

The website is organized topically, first defining osteoporosis and continuing with risk factors, a bone-healthy diet, prevention, and diagnosis and treatment.

"Osteoporosis treatment and prevention is as complex as bone itself," said Chapman-Novakofski. "You can't just take a supplement and forget about your bones. Bones need more than calcium, or calcium and vitamin D. And supplements can't make new bone, only medications can do that. On the other hand, the medications can't work well without all the nutrient building blocks."

She added that osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 44 million

Americans or 55 percent of the people 50 years of age and older. "In the U.S. today, 10 million individuals are estimated to already have the disease and almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis," she said.

"According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the year 2000, 10 percent of adults in the United States aged 50 and over had osteoporosis. In 2002, CDC stated that the direct care expenditures for osteoporotic fractures alone were estimated at $12 - $18 billion annually."

These numbers are expected to rise dramatically because people are living longer, and the United States population is aging. CDC scientists began a program of measuring bone resorption in 1997 and have continued to conduct osteoporosis research.

Chapman-Novakofski added that the Surgeon General estimates that by 2020, half of all Americans over age 50 will have weak bones unless changes are made to diet and lifestyle. As you can see, the health costs of osteoporosis could be staggering in the next few years.