Older people experiencing 'preventable' fractures

Millions of older people living within the European Union, possibly using assisted living, are at a high risk of fragility fractures due to a treatment gap, new findings indicate.

Data from the 'Osteoporosis: Burden, health care provision and opportunities in the EU' report revealed that a minority of high risk patients are receiving treatment to prevent fractures.

In the EU's five largest countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), around six per cent of men and 21 per cent of women aged between 50 and 84 are believed to have osteoporosis.

Principle investigator Professor Bengt Jonsson of the Stockholm School of Economics said: "We have found that there is a large gap between the number of people that are treated compared to the proportion of the population that could be considered eligible for treatment based on fracture risk.

"This means that thousands of patients go on to experience fractures which could have been prevented."

Meanwhile, research at the University of Iowa has revealed that osteoporosis could be due to declines in citrate as well as calcium.

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