Economy is Driving Many Osteoporotic Women to Retire Later - But Their Ability to Work May Be Undermined by Sub-Optimal Management of The...( ...),Health

CLEVELAND, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 340,000(2) women suffer from postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) in Ohio and more than 900,000(3) are at risk for the disease. According to a census report on the prevalence of osteoporosis, the number of women suffering from the disease is predicted to increase in Ohio by more than 22 percent by 2020. Despite this predicted increase, a national Harris Interactive survey commissioned by the Know My Bones Council showed (n=889 with PMO; n=912 without PMO) that many women suffering from osteoporosis are not optimally managing their disease despite the need and desire to work longer, putting them at greater risk for fracture. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation fracture may lead to chronic pain, disability, and even death(4).

The Council, led by the National Osteoporosis Foundation and the Society for Women's Health Research, announced results from a national survey of more than 1,800 American women, which revealed that one-out-of-five women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) are retiring later than anticipated and nearly half (48 percent) blame the current economy. Despite the need to work longer, half of the women with PMO are fearful that the disease will limit their ability to work. However, the research shows that many women are not optimally managing their osteoporosis.

"It concerns me that the number of Ohioans who will suffer from osteoporosis will only grow in the coming decade, but it is more concerning that women suffering from the disease today are not optimally managing their bone health," said Chad Deal, M.D., Head, Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease, Cleveland Clinic Foundation. "I have been practicing medicine for over 20 years and never has it been more important for women to be passionate about their bone health given their desire a
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