Group promotes better bone health for islanders
Islanders were able to find out if they had a higher risk of developing bone disease osteoporosis, at an event organised by the Royal Osteoporosis Society Guernsey.
Half of women and one in five men over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.
‘Osteoporosis is a disease which you don’t know you have until you have a fracture, and the most common areas are the wrist, hip and spine where the bone is much thinner than other bones,’ said Royal Osteoporosis Society Guernsey chairwoman Linda Elliott.
‘There are a lot of risk factors such as diet, exercise and family history, and at the moment on the ROS website there is a risk checker which identifies whether you have key risk factors.’
Women usually have smaller bones than men and also lose bone more quickly for a few years around the time of the menopause, caused by a drop in the level of oestrogen.
Though men are still at risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
White and Asian people have a higher risk of osteoporosis and broken bones than people of other ethnicities.
Mrs Elliott has osteoporosis herself and has been involved in research surrounding the condition.
‘I ran three international studies, I started my career as a radiographer and my professor had an interest in osteoporosis and so that got me involved,’ she said.
‘We developed MRI but I had a research CAT scanner and a group in San Francisco got money from NASA because of the astronauts going up and being away for six months and they wanted to find out more about it, so I was able to do this on my CAT scanner which was how I was involved.’
She been involved with the ROS since it was established in 1986, and has met the society’s patron, Queen Camilla on multiple occasions, including during the royal visit earlier this year.
Anyone who wants to find out more about osteoporosis or use the risk checker can do so at www.theros.org.uk.
