HMC encourages public to maintain bone health on World Osteoporosis Day 2022

 

This year's theme, 'Step Up for Bone Health' is an opportunity to educate the public about risk factors of osteoporosis and encourage them to be aware of their bone health and be physically active to prevent the disease. The department will host a community engagement activity at Hamad General Hospital Thursday from 8am to 2pm to offer vital information about osteoporosis to the hospital visitors.“A bone-healthy lifestyle is vital for strong bones and a fracture-free future. This is why for the WOD 2022 campaign, we are aligning with key messages from the International Federation for Osteoporosis (IOF) urging the public, to follow targeted exercise programmes and bone-health diet. Our campaign locally is also targeted at healthcare professionals as we urge them too to ‘step up’ by ensuring that people at fracture risk have timely access to diagnosis and treatment,” explained Dr Samar al-Emadi, head of Rheumatology Department, HMC. The IOF literally describes osteoporosis as ‘porous bone,’a condition where bones become thin and lose their strength as they become less dense and their quality is reduced. This can lead to broken bones, which cause pain and disability. “According to the IOF, around the world, one in three women and one in five men over 50 will suffer a broken bone due to osteoporosis and such fractures can be life-threatening and a major cause of pain and long-term disability, Dr al-Emadi noted.She explained that some of the important risk factors of osteoporosis are old age, family history, certain diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, long-term use of glucocorticoids and some other medications, early menopause, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake and low body mass index.According to Dr al-Emad, osteoporosis can be prevented by increasing the levels of physical activity, ensuring a bone-healthy diet with adequate intake of calcium, protein, vitamin D, vitamin K and other nutrients, avoiding bone damaging habits like smoking, alcohol consumption and high or low body mass index.The other preventive measures are knowing one’s risks through awareness and education, preventing recurrent fracture by talking to a doctor after breaking a bone and asking for assessment and treatment to prevent further fractures, and not ignoring back pain, height loss and/or curved back – as any of these can be signs of vertebral fractures.