HAMILTON, Ontario, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A Canadian health group has issued new osteoporosis guidelines for women and men age 50 and older, officials say.
Experts at Osteoporosis Canada, led by Dr. Alexandra Papaioannou of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, say there is a need to shift focus to preventing fragility fractures and their negative outcomes.
The guidelines, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, focuses on identification and management of fractures and on tools to assess risk. The guidelines are aimed at helping clinicians better manage fractures and osteoporosis in patients, and include information on exercise, calcium and vitamin D supplementation, as well as pharmacological therapies.
"Fragility fractures, the consequence of osteoporosis, are responsible for excess mortality, morbidity, chronic pain, institutionalization and economic costs," the guideline authors say in a statement. "They represent 80 percent of all fractures in menopausal women over age 50 and those with hip or vertebral fractures have substantially increased risk of death post-fracture."
Dr. Bill Leslie, a co-author from the University of Manitoba and Saint Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg, says fewer than 20 percent of women and 10 percent of men with fragility fractures are counseled on how to prevent future fractures.
