The results of this large scale genomic study provide insights into the genetics underlying osteoporosis and may lead to new ways to prevent bone loss and fractures.
October 20th is World Osteoporosis Day: Prevent Broken Bones through Better Nutrition.
Even young children know that eating spinach can make you stronger. But did you know that fall’s colorful leaves can help guide you to better bone health? Following a bone healthy diet inspired by the changing colors of fall can go a long way toward preventing osteoporosis and protecting against broken bones.
For women, the incidence of osteoporosis is greater than that of heart attack, stroke and breast cancer combined. An estimated 54 million U.S. adults are at risk for osteoporosis and low bone mass. That means more than one-half of the U.S. adult population over 50 is at risk of breaking a bone and should be concerned about bone health.
October 20th is World Osteoporosis Day and the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) is joining the international effort encouraging everyone to eat their way to better bone health. This year’s theme is Serve Up Bone Strength.
In honor of World Osteoporosis Day, NOF launched its new smart phone application,Food4Bones, designed to help you understand and manage all of your nutritional requirements, especially if you have osteoporosis or other dietary concerns. WithFood4Bones, you create your own personalized health profile that helps you: find great food to meet your personal dietary needs; explore a host of osteoporosis friendly recipes; search nearby restaurant menus to match your dietary needs; shop for packaged foods that are right for you; and build a personal library of food favorites. Food4Bones is available for Apple and Android users and can be found in their respective stores.
“Many people underestimate the significant effect diet has on their bone health,” said Heidi Skolnik, certified nutritionist, author and NOF Trustee. “In addition to calcium and vitamin D, dietary fiber, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C are also important nutrients for bone health. Making sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, especially those inspired by the rich fall colors, is a great way to build and maintain healthy bones.”
As you admire the changing colors outside, pledge to exercise regularly and include the following foods in your diet to maximize your bone health throughout the year:
- Green – kale, spinach, brussel sprouts (vitamin K and calcium)
- Red – tomatoes (potassium), red peppers (vitamin C), meat (protein)
- Orange – oranges (vitamin C), pumpkin (potassium)
- Yellow – bananas (potassium)
- Brown – potatoes and almonds (magnesium)
- Purple – prunes (potassium)
- Pink – salmon (calcium and protein).
“With osteoporosis and low bone mass responsible for two million broken bones every year, we’re working to educate the public on the simple lifestyle changes they can make to prevent fractures and protect against osteoporosis. World Osteoporosis Day is a great time to do something good for your bones by committing to follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly,” said Amy Porter, executive director and CEO, National Osteoporosis Foundation. “Starting from childhood, a diet rich in calcium, vitamin D and other bone healthy nutrients will help build bone mass, density and strength to protect against broken bones throughout the lifespan.”
Along with regular exercise, getting the recommended amount of calcium, vitamin D and protein will help you build healthy, dense bones in youth, maintain healthy bones and avoid premature bone loss as adults and sustain mobility and independence as seniors.
To learn more about World Osteoporosis Day, the Serve Up Bone Strength campaign, the Food4Bones app, and foods that are good for your bones, please visit www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org.
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About the National Osteoporosis FoundationÂ
Established in 1984, the National Osteoporosis Foundation is the nation’s leading health organization dedicated to preventing osteoporosis and broken bones, promoting strong bones for life and reducing human suffering through programs of awareness, education, advocacy and research. For more information on the National Osteoporosis Foundation, visit www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org.
About World Osteoporosis Day
World Osteoporosis Day (WOD), observed on 20 October, marks a year-long campaign. Visit www.worldosteoporosisday.org #LoveYourBones.
This Everyday Health article, featuring information from NOF and quotes from NOF Clinical Director, Dr. Andrea Singer, details why osteoporosis should be on every man’s radar.
The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), the leading consumer and community-focused health organization dedicated to the prevention of osteoporosis and broken bones announced today its partnership with the Medical Fitness Network (MFN).
NOF and MFN share a mutual goal of educating people about healthy living and complementary healthcare management of chronic diseases/medical conditions and their risk factors. This partnership helps connect consumers to qualified fitness and healthcare providers who are interested in working with those with osteoporosis through MFN’s online network. This network also supports caregivers.
MFN President and Founder, Lisa Dougherty, said of the partnership, “The Medical Fitness Network is excited to have both our fitness and healthcare professional members and consumer visitors learn more about the research and resources provided by NOF and how they can help those battling osteoporosis.”
NOF’s Senior Director for Science and Education, Susan Randall said, “NOF is pleased to offer MFN’s important community network of fitness, complementary health and wellness professionals to patients and consumers seeking expertise in osteoporosis and bone health.”
About the National Osteoporosis Foundation
Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 54 million Americans. Studies show that one in two women and up to one in four men over age 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis in their lifetime. NOF works to improve patient care and support for those who have broken bones due to osteoporosis and to educate the public to prevent osteoporosis and broken bones and promote strong bones for life.
https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/
About the Medical Fitness Network
The mission of the Medical Fitness Network (MFN) is to improve the quality of life for those with chronic medical conditions or who need pre or postnatal care by connecting them to the most qualified fitness & healthcare professionals. MFN provides a free national network of exemplary fitness and healthcare professionals with a background in treatment and rehabilitation of various diseases and medical conditions.
The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) and CECity.com, Inc. (CECity), announced the launch of Ostonics Quality Systems, LLC, a joint venture created to deliver ProteQt FLS ™, the premier cloud-based solution for implementing and managing a Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) in health systems and health care practices. The ProteQt FLS system helps enroll eligible patients, track their progress, coordinate their care, and assess their outcomes, while helping health care organizations benchmark performance and access proven tools to help them improve against quality measures that matter.
Currently in the U.S., after breaking a bone, less than 30% of women age 65-85 are tested and/or treated for osteoporosis. This lack of commitment to fracture prevention is a major failing of the U.S. healthcare system and leads to increased health care expenditures, morbidity and mortality. The number of bone breaks per year caused by osteoporosis exceeds the incidence of heart attack, stroke and breast cancer combined.
The formation of Ostonics Quality Solutions aligns NOF’s expertise in FLS training for doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses and other healthcare professionals with CECity’s award-winning, cloud-based registry platform for building continuous learning health systems.
Healthcare is transforming from fee-for-service to paying for quality, outcomes and care coordination. ProteQt FLS enables practices and health systems to take advantage of these changes with a turnkey solution for instituting a FLS program that will manage and improve patient care with value and performance as two key drivers. Use of the ProteQt FLS tools will help generate savings and revenue for osteoporosis centers, hospitals and medical practices and make reporting for osteoporosis quality and outcome measures easier.
“Measuring performance can be a powerful and transformative process in the osteoporosis field, but only if physicians and health plans have access to standard dashboards that objectively reflect how they compare against meaningful quality measures,” said Debbie Zeldow, chief business officer, Ostonics. “Our goal at Ostonics is to make this service broadly available so that we can rapidly improve measurement and care for osteoporosis patients who fracture a bone.”
ProteQt FLS provides one cloud-based portal to manage patients, performance and quality. It includes a patient registry, task tracker, quality measure dashboard, Big Data analytics, quality improvement tools and care coordination within a secure social network, regardless of institution, to enable and improve care coordination and care transitions among physicians and across institutions.
FLS is a coordinated preventive care model which operates under the supervision of bone health specialists and collaborates with the patient’s primary care physician. Post-fracture care is managed through a FLS coordinator (a RN, NP, PA or other healthcare professional) who ensures individuals who fracture receive appropriate diagnosis, treatment and support. Patients with recent fractures are tracked via a population registry and processes/timelines are established for patient assessment and follow-up.
FLS programs have been successful in a number of closed and open settings, both in the U.S. and abroad and these programs have greatly reduced the number of costly and serious recurrent fractures by identifying and appropriately treating post-fracture patients, recognizing that this group has the highest risk of future fractures.
The launch of Ostonics and ProteQt FLS will include a comprehensive marketing effort to reach healthcare professionals, practice managers and hospital administrators.
To learn more about ProteQt FLS, please visit www.Ostonics.com or send an email to info@ostonics.com.
About CECity®
CECity is the health care industry’s leading provider of cloud-based registry platforms for building continuous learning health systems that address the “3 Ps” driven by healthcare reform: Pay for Value Reporting, Performance Improvement and Professional Certification. CECity combines its unique registry and Big Data analytics platform with education and improvement interventions from world-class partners, to help all stakeholders answer the most important question, “How Do We Improve?” Since 1997, leading organizations across healthcare have counted on CECity to power and scale their high-stakes performance measurement, management, reporting, and improvement solutions as part of a global learning health system model for practice-based safety and quality improvement. CECity was one of the first PQRS registries qualified by CMS in 2008 and is widely recognized as the #1 cloud-based PQRS registry today. CECity powers approximately 20 percent of the nation’s Qualified Clinical Data Registries in partnership with leaders in quality, is the leading solution for Meaningful Use Specialized Registry Reporting, and is the exclusive performance assessment organization for the Bridges to Excellence program. Learn more:Â www.cecity.com.
About the National Osteoporosis Foundation
Established in 1984, the National Osteoporosis Foundation is the nation’s leading health organization dedicated to preventing osteoporosis and broken bones, promoting strong bones for life and reducing human suffering through programs of awareness, education, advocacy and research. For more information on the National Osteoporosis Foundation, visit www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org.
Contact Information
NOF
Amy Porter
202-223-6362
amy.porter@bonehealthandosteoporosis.org
Ostonics
Debbie Zeldow
202-721-6364
dzeldow@ostonics.com
CECity
Brian Marchand
412-205-5363
bmarchand@cecity.com
Calcium and vitamin D are essential to building strong, dense bones when you’re young and to keeping them strong and healthy as you age. Scientific evidence supports the role of calcium and vitamin D for maintenance of healthy bones at all ages.
Read NOF’s statement on the importance of calcium and vitamin D.
This recent article from Today’s Geriatric News highlights research presented at the American Geriatric Society’s annual meeting that found men are far less likely than women to take preventive measures against osteoporosis or to be screened for the disease. The article calls on physicians to become proactive in recommending osteoporosis screening and treatment for older men and includes information from NOF and quotes by NOF Clinical Director, Dr. Andrea Singer.
An Editorial Published in Osteoporosis International Responds to the BMJ Article Claiming an Overdiagnosis of Osteoporosis
An editorial published this week in Osteoporosis International responds to the recent British Medical Journal (BMJ) article that claimed osteoporosis is overdiagnosed. The editorial, authored by Professor Juliet Compston, Chair of the National Osteoporosis Guideline Group and IOF EU Osteoporosis Consultation Panel, argues that the article’s authors used a selective and misleading presentation of published evidence to grossly misrepresent the burden of osteoporosis.