Osteoporosis Action Alliance – Education is Prevention: What Can Be Done Against the Expected Increase in Osteoporosis-Related Fractures in Germany? – Economy & Volkswagen – News

by time news

Berlin (ots) – Do all people in Germany affected by osteoporosis get adequate treatment? How will the number of fractures caused by osteoporosis develop? Important questions, because an estimated 6.3 million people suffer from osteoporosis in this country.(1) And yet the disease is still underestimated today.(2) The Scorecard for Osteoporosis in Europe (SCOPE), a project of the International Osteoporosis Foundation ( IOF), provides data on the burden of disease, care and prevention for all member states of the EU plus Switzerland and England.(3)

Data for Germany: expected increase in fractures

In Germany, life expectancy is expected to increase. As a result, the number of osteoporosis patients is expected to increase as the prevalence of this condition increases with age.(4) What does this mean for the disease burden and healthcare cost trends? A look at the figures published in 2021 shows: In 2019, 831,000 fractures caused by osteoporosis, so-called fragility fractures, were recorded in Germany. Treating these fractures resulted in total healthcare spending of €13.8 billion(4). According to recent estimates, the number of fragility fractures will increase by 16.4% to 967,000 by 2034.(4) That’s nearly 1 million broken bones in a year!

The Osteoporosis Action Alliance is committed to educating people about the prevention of osteoporosis and informing those affected and their families about the disease. It is important to counteract the dramatic increase in fractures caused by osteoporosis and to provide the sick with appropriate treatment.

Everyone can prevent

A bone-healthy lifestyle is the best way to prevent osteoporosis. This includes a balanced, calcium-rich diet and an adequate supply of vitamin D at any age.(5,6) Spending time outdoors helps produce vitamin D, of which only 10 to 20% can be obtained from diet.(7 ) Regular exercise and an individualized sports program, such as gymnastics and strength training, strengthen the bones and at the same time improve balance.(8) This combination of diet and exercise can significantly promote bone health.

If osteoporosis is already present, early diagnosis is crucial because the disease begins before noticeable symptoms appear. In general, it makes sense to talk to your family doctor about bone health, and not only if there are already cases of osteoporosis in the family.

Further information on the Osteoporosis Action Alliance and the KNOCHEN.STARK.MACHER campaign. and on osteoporosis as well as delicious recipes to cook at home and other downloadable materials can be found at www.aktionsbündnis-osteoporose.de (

credentials

1 Hadji P, Klein S, Gothe H, et al. Epidemiology of Osteoporosis – Bone Evaluation Study. An analysis of routine health insurance data. Dtsch Doctors Int. 2013;110(4):52-57.

2 Ström O, Borgström K, Kanis JA et al. Arch Osteoporosis 2011;6:59-155.

3 Kanis JA, Norton N, Harvey NC, et al. SCOPE 2021: a new scorecard for osteoporosis in Europe. Archives of Osteoporosis. 2021; 16: 82.

4 Willers C, Norton N, Harvey NC et al.: Osteoporosis in Europe: a compendium of countryspecific reports. Arch Osteoporosis 2022; 17: 2.

5 (accessed: 02/27/2023).

6 (accessed: 02/27/2023).

7 (accessed: 02/27/2023).

8 DVO Guideline 2017: Prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of OSTEOPOROSIS in postmenopausal women and men – long version.

DEU-162-0323-80013

Press contact:

Press Office Osteoporosis Action Alliance c/o Medizin & PR GmbH – Health Communication Eupener Straße 60, 50933 Cologne Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0221 / 77 543-0

Your contacts: Birgit Dickoré, Barbara Kluge and Wiebke Erichsen

Original content from: Aktionsbündnis Osteoporose, transmitted by news aktuell

Presseportal-Newsroom: news up-to-date GmbH

You may also like

Leave a Comment