What is osteoporosis?
This silent but lethal disease often only makes itself known when the first fracture occurs...
Osteoporosis literally means 'porous bone'. This silent but lethal disease often only makes itself known when the first fracture occurs. The density and quality of bone are reduced, the loss of bone occurs progressively and as bone becomes more and more porous and fragile, the risk of fracture is greatly increased, particularly at the hip, spine and wrist. The incidence of these fractures increases with age in both women and men.
A common myth is that osteoporosis is a disease that generally affects post-menopausal women, and should simply be seen as a normal part of ageing. While it is indeed true that in women over 45 years of age, osteoporosis accounts for more days spent in hospital than may other diseases, including diabetes, myocardial infarction and breast cancer, men and children are also at risk.
One in three women and one in five men will be affected by osteoporosis – at different stages and for different reasons – in their lifetimes. This means that 4-6million South Africans are potential sufferers, many of them children who are poorly nourished.
The good news is that osteoporosis is now a largely treatable condition and, with a combination of lifestyle changes and appropriate medical treatment, many fractures can be avoided.
About NOFSA
The National Osteoporosis Foundation of South Africa (NOFSA) was established in 1993 with the main aim of educating the public as well as the health profession with regards to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this potentially devastating disease.
Their view is that prevention is the best strategy to conquer fractures and subsequent disability. Education, starting at school level, should be implemented.
Since 1993 the public has become more aware of the disease-especially since the statistics for developing countries like South-Africa show that it affects 4-6 million South Africans and that the hip fracture rate in men and women, is the same.
Our services include education (training courses to doctors, lectures to the public) support to patients (helpline, web-site, personal response to letters) and information (newsletters, educational leaflets, information booklets etc) to the public and doctors.
Our mission also includes lobbying with both Government and the Private Sector to firstly recognize osteoporosis as a serious disease (it is on the World Health Organization's list of serious diseases rated almost as serious as cardiovascular disease), and secondly to negotiate equal access for everyone with regards to diagnosis and appropriate treatment/medication.
In South Africa, where malnutrition and infections (HIV/AIDS pandemic, Tuberculosis) are rife, osteoporosis is not regarded as a health priority. Access to diagnosis and treatment is not available to a large section of the population.
NOFSA has formed an alliance with the Arthritis Foundation to give our lobbying more weight and have in fact embarked on a pilot study with them (employing questionnaires at Day Hospitals) about the prevalence in the Western Cape. This is being done with the help of the MRC and we hope to ultimately do this nationally, pending the outcome of the pilot study.
For more information, please visit the National Osteoporosis Foundation of South Africa or contact them on their helpline: 086 110 2265. For additional information please visit The International Osteoporosis Foundation.