Women with osteoporosis often go untreated: study

[Guest guest]

Women with osteoporosis often go untreated: study

Last Updated: 2002-06-21 14:00:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - According to the results of a US study,

nearly half of women with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis have

not received treatment one year after being diagnosed with the

condition.

Osteoporosis is common among women after menopause, and can also strike

older men. It increases the risk of potentially debilitating fractures

of the hip, spine and other parts of the body.

The findings were presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the

Society for Epidemiological Research in Palm Desert, California.

Dr. Wactawski-Wende from the University at Buffalo, New York, and

colleagues screened 836 women aged 58 to 90 years for osteoporosis. The

women had not been screened for osteoporosis before. Among this group,

428 were found to have low bone density consistent with an osteoporosis

diagnosis.

After one year, the women with osteoporosis were contacted by mail to

determine how many had begun treatment. While 307 had discussed the

diagnoses with a doctor, only 167 had started treatment, the researchers

found.

Women who had started treatment tended to have more advanced disease and

see their physician more than once a year. They were also thinner and

better educated compared with women who did not start therapy, the

authors note.

" This study tells us there are a lot of women with osteoporosis who

don't know it, " Wactawski-Wende said in a press statement. " Only half of

those found to have osteoporosis end up receiving therapy, " she

continued. " We have a long way to go in educating women and their

physicians about osteoporosis. "