(Press-News.org) A new report launched today by the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) in collaboration with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA) reveals that the burden of fractures in Europe has been vastly underestimated. The report concludes that in Europe's five largest countries and Sweden alone, an estimated 2.5 million new fragility fractures occurred in 2010 – the equivalent of 280 fractures per hour. It also showed an astounding eighty deaths per day attributable to fragility fractures.
'Osteoporosis: Burden, health care provision and opportunities in the European Union' examines both epidemiological and health economic aspects of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures in Europe, and specifically in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK as well as Sweden.
It is estimated that one in three women and one in five men over the age of fifty worldwide will sustain an osteoporotic fracture, often resulting in substantial pain and suffering, disability, and even death. As a result, osteoporosis imposes a significant burden on both the individual and society. IOF President John Kanis stated, "This landmark report exposes a number of major issues and challenges related to health care provision for fragility fractures. What is particularly striking is how the economic burden of fractures has increased in just over a decade. In 2000 the economic burden of fractures for the then European Union was estimated at € 36 billion. The current estimate of € 30.7 billion for just six countries largely reflects the increased number of fractures due to Europe's ageing population."
Several of the key findings regarding the economic and health cost of fragility fractures for the six countries studied include:
For the year 2010 approximately 2.5 million new fractures occurred in the six countries, with approximately 34,000 deaths caused by fractures – 49% following hip fractures
The total health burden of osteoporotic fractures, measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALY) lost, was estimated at approximately 850,000 QALYs.
The health care cost, including pharmacological prevention, was estimated at Euro 30.7 billion – corresponding to 3.5% of the total spending on health care in those countries.
A majority of the total costs was for the acute management of fracture whilst pharmacological prevention and treatment only represented 4.7% of total costs.
Despite the existence of management guidelines, a minority of patients receive medical treatment to prevent fractures.
In 2025 the projected number of fractures will increase by 29% reaching 3.2 million fractures, with health care costs increasing to Euro 38.5 billion.
Improved implementation of clinical guidelines to close this 'treatment gap' is cost-effective and could save almost 700,000 fractures by 2025.
The economic burden of osteoporotic fractures in these countries exceeds those for migraine, stroke, MS, and Parkinson's disease, and is similar to the burden of rheumatoid arthritis.
In six clearly defined chapters, it provides an introduction to osteoporosis and then reviews medical innovation and clinical progress in the management of osteoporosis, the epidemiology and burden of the disease, the current uptake of osteoporosis treatments and the future burden of fractures as a consequence of increasing treatment uptake.
EFPIA Director General Richard Bergström commented, " In Europe the number of elderly is set to increase markedly, with individuals expected to enjoy a longer life expectancy than ever before. We also know that the incidence of fractures rises progressively with age, and as a result we can expect the economic and social impact of fractures to increase significantly unless action is taken. Fortunately, we have a host of effective diagnostic and treatment options at our disposal – it is time to implement these advances fully. "
###
Osteoporosis: Burden, health care provision and opportunities in the European Union
Archives of Osteoporosis (2011). O. Ström, F. Borgström, J.A. Kanis,J. Compston, C. Cooper, E. V. McCloskey & B. Jönsson. DOI 10.1007/s11657-011-0060-1
The report can be accessed via the IOF website at http://www.iofbonehealth.org/about-iof/the-organization/committee-of-scientific-advisors-csa/publications-position-and-consensus-statements.html and will soon be available on the Archives of Osteoporosis website at http://www.springerlink.com/content/1862-3514 .
About IOF
The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is a non-profit, nongovernmental umbrella organization dedicated to the worldwide fight against osteoporosis, the disease known as "the silent epidemic". IOF's members – committees of scientific researchers, patient, medical and research societies and industry representatives from around the world – share a common vision of a world without osteoporotic fractures. IOF now represents 196 societies in 92 locations. http://www.iofbonehealth.org
About EFPIA
EFPIA represents the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. Through its direct membership of 31 national associations and 40 leading pharmaceutical companies, EFPIA provides the voice of 2,200 companies committed to researching, developing and bringing new medicines to improve health and quality of life around the world. http://www.efpia.eu/
END
Researchers from North Carolina State University have designed a sensor that can measure strain in structural materials and is capable of healing itself – an important advance for collecting data to help us make informed decisions about structural safety in the wake of earthquakes, explosions or other unexpected events.
Engineers use sensors to measure the strain, or forces, exerted on materials used to build everything from airplanes to civil infrastructure. For example, these sensors can tell us how an airplane wing is performing in flight, and give maintenance authorities ...
Scientists are reporting development of the first self-powered nano-device that can transmit data wirelessly over long distances. In a study in ACS's journal Nano Letters, they say it proves the feasibility of a futuristic genre of tiny implantable medical sensors, airborne and stationary surveillance cameras and sensors, wearable personal electronics, and other devices that operate independently without batteries on energy collected from the environment.
Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues explain that advances in electronics have opened the door to developing tiny devices ...
There may be a natural solution to the mystery of how small amounts of a banned drug that disrupts thyroid function and plumps up livestock gets into their bodies — and the bodies of humans, scientists are reporting. Their study, which appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, reports the first evidence that the substance can form naturally in feed and food.
Julie Vanden Bussche and colleagues explain that thiouracil is a drug that increases the weight of livestock by making them retain water. Some regulatory agencies have banned its use because the ...
The quest for better ways of encapsulating medicine so that it can reach diseased parts of the body has led scientists to harness — for the first time — living human cells to produce natural capsules with channels for releasing drugs and diagnostic agents. The report appears in ACS' journal Nano Letters.
In the report, Dayang Wang and colleagues explain that the human body is very efficient at getting rid of foreign substances. Some foreign substances, such as viruses, are harmful and should be removed. But the body also considers drugs and nanoparticles — meant to treat ...
The small science of nanotechnology — which deals with objects so tiny that thousands would fit inside the period at the end of this sentence — is having a big impact in the construction industry, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the American Chemical Society's weekly newsmagazine. Indeed, some experts believe that nanotechnology will revolutionize the industry, which builds, renovates, and repairs society's infrastructure.
In the article C&EN senior editor Bethany Halford describes nanotechnology's surprising ...
Harmful mineral oils from the printing inks used on cardboard can migrate into food if recycled cardboard is used for food packaging. It may contaminate food even if the recycled cardboard is used for the corrugated card transport box that holds individual packs. In tests on experimental packs of fine noodles, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland, found that food rapidly absorbed 10 times the recommended limit for concentration of these contaminating oils from the transport box. The findings were published in the latest edition of Packaging Technology and Science.
The world-recognised ...
The Eatery on Beach Street in Fort Worth now features iPads with the popular game Angry Birds to entertain children while Chef Don Gifford prepares homestyle meals from scratch.
"Young ones can help the Angry Birds get revenge for stolen eggs on The Eatery's iPads while I make their favorites from our new dinner menu," said Chef Don Gifford.
"Our made-from-scratch gourmet Mac and Cheese bar has been bringing lots of families with children to The Eatery on Thursday nights, and the kids light up when they see the iPads," said Cindy Gifford.
The ...
A high level of a hormone that regulates phosphate is associated with an increased risk of kidney failure and death among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, according to a recent study led by researchers at the University of Miami and funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Diseases and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health. Results are in the June 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In a previous study of patients beginning hemodialysis for treatment of kidney failure, individuals with elevated blood ...
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A Rutgers University astrophysicist is part of a scientific team that has unveiled evidence of black holes being common in the early universe. The discovery, made using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, shows that these young black holes grew more aggressively than scientists previously thought.
The finding has important implications for how astronomers understand the early cosmos, according to Eric Gawiser, assistant professor in Rutgers' Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences.
"There is a deep and mysterious connection ...
Every living plant cell and animal cell is surrounded by a membrane that helps it communicate with other cells and the outside world. These cellular membranes contain receptor molecules that serve as the cell's eyes and ears.
The receptor molecules accomplish three basic things in the communication process: 1) recognize an outside signal, 2) transport that signal across the cell's membrane and 3) initiate the reading of the signal inside the cell and then initiate the cell's response to that signal. These steps are collectively known as transmembrane signaling.
Transmembrane ...
