A SENIOR medic wants 1,000 over-50s in Oxfordshire to take a simple online test to see if they are at risk of a common bone disease.

Oxford consultant rheumatologist Dr Kassim Javaid has made the call for today’s World Osteoporosis Day.

About 32,000 people in Oxfordshire – which has a population of about 653,800 – have the condition, where bones weaken and are left at a higher risk of fractures.

Dr Javaid, who works at Headington’s Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital, wants people to fill in an online questionnaire to assess their risk of the disease.

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This includes questions about age, gender, weight, alcohol consumption and any history of fractures.

He said: “It is a silent disease and most don’t know they have got it until they break a bone. After the age of 50 the risk goes up a lot.

“Hip fractures ruin patients’ lives. Up to a third die within a year, and half can not go back home, so go to care homes.

“Half of patients with a broken wrist do not recover well and two thirds of those with broken backs develop chronic back pain.”

He said an increasingly older population – the number of over-65s in the county is expected to rise by 28 per cent in the next decade – will see cases rise.

Drug treatments are improving to stop cells breaking down the bone, but steps can be taken to prevent the disease, such as quitting smoking.

Thame resident Sue Russell, 61, discovered she had osteopenia, the early stages of bone deterioration, after breaking her wrist in a fall in Oxford two years ago.

The retired grandmother-of-one said she was not “terribly surprised” as her late mother had suffered debilitating osteoporosis that left her housebound.

She said: “I was hoping I was doing the right things so I wouldn’t break a bone.”

More calcium-rich foods such as cheese, yoghurt, oranges, dried figs and soya products entered her diet.

She said activities such as walking and dancing are better for her as they put pressure on the bones, rather than exercise such as swimming and cycling.

She urged people to take the test, adding: “It is always good to be aware of things. It might have made me think ‘I have to do something about this’.”

Take the test at shef.ac.uk/FRAX/tool.jsp

ABOUT OSTEOPOROSIS

  • Osteoporosis affects about three million people in the UK
  • Wrist, hip and vertebrae are the most common type of fractures associated with the condition
  • People start to lose bone density from about 35, and women are more affected in the first few years after the menopause
  • Other risk factors include inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) conditions, a family history of the condition and heavy drinking and smoking
  • The NHS advises people to take regular exercise, eat well and with plenty of foods rich in calcium and vitamin D
  • The NHS also strongly advises people to quit smoking and to cut down on alcohol.


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