Remember the Bump? It's Back for Older Women as Way
to Prevent Falls, Hip Fractures
Website
to fight falls and fractured hips, Survey finds women not well informed
– offers calcium calculator
Sept. 13, 2008 - Fall is just around the corner,
and hopefully it is the change of season kind, rather than the fall
caused by change in your ability to balance. But, more than 352,000
people – mostly female senior citizens – will suffer a broken hip this
year and 90 percent of these will be due to a fall. But there may be
help found in that old dance called the “bump” – the dance in
which people bump hips to the beat of the music.
A new Website, sponsored by the calcium supplement
Os-Cal, is using it in an entertaining way for women to “bump up” their
hip health awareness.
This problem of falls and broken hips is particular
severe and common in older women. . According to the National
Osteoporosis Foundation, a woman’s risk of hip fracture is equal to her
combined risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer.
Although hip fracture is a serious health issue
that will affect one out of three women by the age of 90, awareness and
concern of the risks associated with it remains low, according to
Donnica Moore, M.D., president of the Sapphire Women's Health Group and
nationally renowned women’s health expert.
“Having healthy hips is vitally important to
anyone who wants to live a healthy, active life,” she says. “However,
there is still room for most women to educate themselves on hip fracture
and how to lower their risks.”
According to a recent survey commissioned by
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare among women aged 45 to 64, 80
percent of those polled said that they do not worry about hip fracture.
Also, although 92 percent noted that hip fracture
could lead to the loss of ability to walk properly or at all, many did
not realize some other serious consequences associated with it.
In fact, only about one out of three realized that
death is also a possible risk, even though one out of four women over 50
who suffers a hip fracture dies within one year.
While most women may not realize the severity of
hip fractures, most agree that their hips greatly affect their quality
of life. Most say that having healthy hips enables them to be as active
as possible, enjoy life each and every day and do things like travel
without worrying how they will get around.
● A calcium calculator (click
here)
● A fracture risk calculator (click
here)
● Hip fracture facts and ways to reduce risk
● Questions to ask doctors
● Information about calcium and vitamin D
And if they do the bump, they can:
● Receive a downloadable $3 coupon for
any Os-Cal product (the #1 doctor- and pharmacist-recommended
calcium supplement)
● Enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win
a trip for four to Hollywood
However, while about three out of four women said
they consider taking care of their hips an important part of their
healthcare regimen, not enough are taking the proper steps to do so. For
instance, while taking a calcium and vitamin D supplement is one of the
best ways to keep bones strong, about a third of women 45 to 64 said
they do not currently take one.
Of those that do take calcium supplements, only
about one out of six is taking them properly, in twice daily doses.
Experts recommend taking calcium and vitamin D supplements in divided
doses throughout the day, as the body can absorb only so much calcium at
one time.
Role of Calcium and Vitamin D
Adequate calcium intake is one of the best defenses
against hip fracture. A person’s body must maintain a constant level of
calcium in the blood to function, and when the body’s intake level is
too low, it meets its needs by stealing calcium from bones, weakening
them over time.
And while many people assume they take in enough
calcium, more than 75 percent of all Americans are not getting enough in
their diet, a statistic that increases among older women. About 90
percent of women over 50 and 99 percent of women over 70 do not get an
adequate amount.
As important to bone health as calcium is vitamin
D. Getting enough vitamin D is not only essential for calcium
absorption, but also plays an important role in keeping muscles active
and strong; some studies have shown that getting enough vitamin D can
also help prevent falls. And like calcium, many people do not get
enough. More than 70 percent of women 51 to 70 and almost 90 percent of
women over 70 are vitamin D deficient.
“Even when women try to get enough calcium and
vitamin D through diet, it’s still usually not enough,” says Dr. Moore.
“Women can make simple choices in order to take a more active role in
managing their bone health, and taking a calcium supplement like Os-Cal
is a great first step.”
In addition to “doing the bump,” women who visit
www.oscal.com/bumpitup can access useful tools like a calcium calculator
to estimate current daily calcium intake and a fracture risk calculator
to assess their risk of breaking a bone. Visitors to the site can read
valuable information and tips on hip fracture risks, ways to reduce the
risks, the role of calcium and questions to ask their doctor about hip
fracture.
For more information on Os-Cal and hip fracture,
and for official sweepstakes rules, visit
http://www.Os-Cal.com/bumpitup.
Information provided by sources:
Survey Methodology
The Os-Cal Bone Health Consumer Survey was
conducted by Insight Express, on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer
Healthcare, within the United States between June 20 and June 23, 2008,
among 355 U.S. women ages 45 to 64.
About Os-Cal®
Os-Cal® is the number one doctor- and
pharmacist-recommended brand of calcium supplement and has been proven
effective in more clinical studies than any other calcium supplement
brand. Os-Cal was introduced in 1951 and was the only branded calcium
supplement from the 1950s through the 1970s, earning a legendary
reputation in bone metabolism scientific circles by 1980. Each of its
varieties, including Os-Cal 500+D, Os-Cal 500+Extra D, Os-Cal 500+Extra
D Chewable and Os-Cal Ultra, also contain vitamin D, which is essential
for calcium absorption.
About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is one of the
world’s largest over-the-counter consumer healthcare products companies.
Its more than 30 well-known brands include the leading smoking cessation
products, Nicorette® and NicoDerm®, as well as many medicine cabinet
staples, alli®, Aquafresh®, Sensodyne® and TUMS®, which are trademarks
owned by and/or licensed to GlaxoSmithKline Group of Companies.
About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world's leading
research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to
improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel
better and live longer.
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Website
to fight falls and fractured hips, Survey finds women not well informed
– offers calcium calculator
