New IOF Report Shows Smoking, Alcohol, Being Underweight and Poor Nutrition Harm Our Bones

New IOF Report Shows Smoking, Alcohol, Being Underweight and Poor Nutrition Harm Our Bones

October 19, 2007

- World Osteoporosis Day celebrated in some 80 countries

    NYON, Switzerland, Oct. 19 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- If
you smoke, drink more than two units of alcohol a day, are
underweight, don't exercise or eat well, you could be
setting yourself up for osteoporosis later in life,
according to a new report issued today by the International
Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) on the occasion of World
Osteoporosis Day (WOD). 

   
(http://www.iofbonehealth.org/newsroom/media-releases/detail.html?mediaReleaseID=48
)

    The new report Beat the Break: Know and Reduce Your
Osteoporosis Risk Factors
(http://www.iofbonehealth.org/publications/beat-the-break.html)
describes the common risk factors, both modifiable and
fixed, that place people at greater risk of osteoporosis.

    IOF Chief Executive Officer Daniel Navid noted:
"By 2050, it is estimated that incidence of hip
fracture, a major consequence of osteoporosis, will
increase by 310 and 240 percent in men and women.
Osteoporosis-related fractures often imply pain, loss of
function and, in the worse cases, death."

    Professor Cyrus Cooper, author of the "Beat the
Break" report and IOF board member, said,
"Worldwide, the incidence of osteoporosis is growing
at epidemic proportions -- we now know that one woman in
three and one man in five over fifty will experience an
osteoporotic fracture."

    Beat the Break is also the theme of World Osteoporosis
Day 2007, celebrated on October 20 with international
activities in more than eighty countries. To beat the break
and avoid fractures, IOF urges individuals to take the new
IOF One Minute Osteoporosis Risk Test
(http://www.iofbonehealth.org/patients-public/risk-test.html)
and to follow a bone-friendly lifestyle - with a nutritious
diet including sufficient calcium and vitamin D, regular
exercise, avoiding smoking and excess alcohol.

    Modifiable risk factors for osteoporosis primarily
arise because of unhealthy diet or lifestyle choices. They
include poor nutrition, low body mass index, eating
disorders, alcohol, smoking, and insufficient exercise.

    Fixed risk factors are those that individuals are born
with or cannot alter. They include age, gender, family
history of fracture, the presence of a previous fracture,
ethnicity, and the onset of early menopause. It is
important to be aware of these fixed risks so steps can be
taken to reduce loss of bone minerals.

    WOD 2007 is supported by an unrestricted educational
grant provided by four Global Gold Sponsors: Fonterra
Brands, Novartis, MSD and Tetra Pak.


    For more information, please contact:

     Janice Blondeau 
     International Osteoporosis Foundation
     Phone: [phone]
     Fax:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]