Love Your Bones on World Osteoporosis Day

NYON, Switzerland, October 20, 2011 -

This World Osteoporosis Day (October 20) the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and its 200 member patient and medical societies are calling on the public and health professionals around the world to take action for bone health and osteoporosis prevention. The global campaign, launched in more than six languages, urges people of all ages to take three essential steps to set a strong foundation for healthy bones and muscles:

1. Ensure you have enough vitamin D intake (through safe exposure to sunlight, diet, and supplementation if required, particularly if you are over 60)
2. Eat a calcium and protein-rich diet
3. Keep active with daily weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening physical activity

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multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/iof/52143/

Osteoporosis is often called a ’silent disease’ because it has few symptoms. However, unless the disease is treated, the skeleton becomes progressively weaker and more fragile, leaving people at serious risk of debilitating fractures.

Around the world, at least one in three women and one in five men over the age of fifty will suffer a fracture caused by weak bones. Fractures result in pain, debilitation and loss of quality of life. One in three seniors who suffers a hip fracture becomes physically impaired and loses his or her ability to live independently. At least one in five will die within a year of the fracture. Vertebral (spine) fractures can cause extreme pain, long or short term disability, dowager’s hump, and significant loss in quality of life. Without treatment, the risk of suffering new fractures is high.

World Osteoporosis Day is an occasion to remind the community that bone health matters. Osteoporosis and fracture prevention must be a priority for us all. Visit www.worldosteoporosisday.org to participate in the global ‘unbreakable embrace’ campaign and to view the live streaming of World Osteoporosis Day events around the world at 2:06 local time (206 bones in the human body). Multi-language material including posters, fact sheets, and the report ‘Three Steps to Unbreakable Bones: Vitamin D, Calcium and Exercise’ are also available.

For more information contact the International Osteoporosis Foundation at info@iofbonehealth.org

About IOF

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is a non-profit, nongovernmental umbrella organization dedicated to the worldwide fight against osteoporosis, the disease known as “the silent epidemic”. IOF’s members - committees of scientific researchers, patient, medical and research societies and industry representatives from around the world - share a common vision of a world without osteoporotic fractures. www.iofbonehealth.org

Caleb Starrenburg
Communications Coordinator
International Osteoporosis Foundation
E-Mail: cstarrenburg@iofbonehealth.org
Phone: +41-22-994-01-04

Video: multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/iof/52143/

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