WHAT DO CANADIAN WOMEN KNOW ABOUT OSTEOPOROSIS? NOT ENOUGH.
November is Osteoporosis Month, time to take charge of your bone health and help put the brakes on fractures. Women aged 50+ are most likely to develop osteoporosis, yet many don’t know the facts or that they might be at risk.
Recently, an Amgen survey asked nearly 6,000 women aged 55+ across 9 countries about their lifestyle, health and awareness of osteoporosis. Canadian women weighed in, offering us important insight into what they know — or don’t — about this potentially debilitating disease. Let’s take a look.
While 77% of women aged 65+ say they’re familiar with osteoporosis, many women may be overestimating how much they know.
40% of Canadian women aged 55-64 cannot define osteoporosis correctly, only 24% of those aged 65+ feel like they could explain osteoporosis to a friend.
Osteoporosis (“porous bone”) is a disease in which the density and quality of bone are reduced. Over time, it weakens bones, making them less dense, more brittle and more likely to break.
About 2 in 5 women 65+ in Canada and globally believe osteoporosis affects men and women equally.
While it’s true that osteoporosis affects both women and men, women are at higher risk. As they approach menopause, women produce less estrogen, making them lose bone more quickly. Women also tend to have smaller, less dense bones.
currently at risk for osteoporosis. In Canada, 3 in 4 women 65+ don’t think they’re currently at risk.
Many women may be missing crucial opportunities to prevent osteoporosis which can be a silent disease where the first symptom in many cases is a bone fracture. But the older you get, the more susceptible you are to broken bones.
Osteoporosis affects approximately 10% of women aged 60, 20% of women aged 70, 40% of women aged 80, and 67% of women aged 90.
Compared to the global average, Canadian women can better recognize some signs of osteoporosis.
About 3 in 4 surveyed women recognize bone breaks as a sign of having osteoporosis. Other important signs of the disease are curved posture, loss of height, and low mineral density (as described below). Keep in mind, though, that bone loss is gradual and painless. Bones can deteriorate over many years without any symptoms. When bones start breaking, the disease is already advanced. Sadly, nearly 3 in 5 women consider having weak bones to be a normal part of aging.
More than half the women surveyed are surprised to learn that 1 in 3 women over age 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture. Many Canadians are shocked to discover that the disease causes 1 fracture every 3 seconds around the world annually.
The reality is that over 80% of all fractures in Canadians 50+ are caused by osteoporosis. Fractures from osteoporosis are more common in Canada than heart attack, stroke and breast cancer combined. The most common osteoporotic fractures are in the hip, spine, wrist and shoulder. Breaks in these critical parts of the body can be debilitating. In fact, 28% of women who have a hip fracture will die within the following year.
Fractures from osteoporosis can change your life.
Compared to the global average, Canadian women place a higher level of importance on being independent in their daily lives — 98% believe it’s important to be able to do what they want, when they want, and 83% would find the inability to perform daily tasks on their own frustrating. Canadian women are overwhelmingly concerned about losing their mobility as they age. The disease can also result in a reduced quality of life, lowered self-esteem, reduction or loss of mobility, disfigurement, and a lack of independence.
In women aged 55-64, global awareness of the bone mineral density (BMD) test is 42%. Only 40% of Canadian women in that age group are familiar with it.
Getting a BMD test for osteoporosis wasn’t a priority among survey-takers — but it should be. The average Canadian woman ranked osteoporosis fifth in a list of eight diseases to be screened for, behind breast cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The test uses a small amount of radiation to take a picture of your spine and hips to measure how dense your bones are. It can tell whether you have osteoporosis or if you are at risk of developing it. Osteoporosis Canada recommends everyone who is 65+ and anyone 50+ with risk factors for fracture due to osteoporosis should have the test.
More than 80% of Canadian patients who sustain a fracture go undiagnosed or untreated for osteoporosis.
Osteoporotic fractures can often be prevented with a combination of lifestyle changes and appropriate treatments that help stop or slow bone loss and reduce the risk of breaking bones.
53% of Canadian women aged 55-64 said they maintain bone health by eating calcium-rich foods.
A diet rich in calcium and vitamin D is crucial for maintaining healthy, strong bones. If your body doesn’t get enough calcium from your diet, it starts taking it from your bones. People over 50 should have 1,200 mg of calcium and 800-2,000 IU of vitamin D daily.
Globally, 3 in 5 women aged 55-64 have never spoken to their doctor about osteoporosis, with nearly 1 in 2 women aged 65+ saying the same. Only about half the Canadian women over 65 surveyed have had this discussion.
It’s time to break your silence and get the facts. Talk to your doctor about osteoporosis and what you can do for better bone health.
ONE IN 3 WOMEN OVER AGE 50 WILL EXPERIENCE AN OSTEOPOROTIC FRACTURE.