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NOF’s Sixth
International Osteoporosis Symposium
Offers the Latest Information & Research
to U.S. Healthcare Professionals
April 5,
2005 (Washington, DC) – The National
Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) is
bringing together a faculty of
internationally-renowned experts to
share state-of-the-art information and
research on bone health and osteoporosis
prevention, diagnosis and treatment with
hundreds of physicians and other
healthcare professionals at the Sixth
International Symposium on Osteoporosis
(ISO), April 6-10, at the Marriott
Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.
“Current Status & Future Directions” is
the only biennial scientific meeting in
the United States to focus on
osteoporosis and bone health across the
lifespan.
“The ISO is a key element in NOF’s
efforts to improve the lives of tens of
millions Americans affected by
osteoporosis and related fractures by
expanding healthcare professionals’
understanding of the disease to ensure
their patients receive the most
appropriate care,” said Bess
Dawson-Hughes, MD, President of NOF.
“Since no single specialty is focused on
this disease, it is important to reach
all healthcare professionals – including
primary care providers, physical
therapists, geriatricians, nurses and
orthopedists – with the tools to fight
osteoporosis.”
The ISO helps healthcare professionals
answer the Surgeon General’s mandate to
address the health threat presented by
osteoporosis issued in the Bone Health
and Osteoporosis: A Report of the
Surgeon General, published in October
2004. The first-ever Report on bone
health states, “All healthcare
professionals … have the opportunity and
responsibility to assist individuals in
achieving” strong, healthy bones, but
“... much of what we know from research
about bone health is not always applied
in practice.”
The ISO bridges this information gap by
focusing on the global threat posed by
the under management of the disease in
the keynote address, then turning to
critical issues for practicing
healthcare professionals such as
identifying which patients should
receive treatment, who should receive
bone mineral density (BMD) tests and
adjustments professionals can make when
a treatment program is not effective.
The closing address will look to the
future as efforts to create an “absolute
fracture risk” standard and the
implications the standard holds for
improving patient care are discussed. In
addition, recent research abstracts by
leading scientists from across the
country will be presented.
“More than 44 million American women and
men, aged 50 and older, are at risk for
osteoporosis-fractures and that number
is expected to increase to more than 61
million by the year 2020,” said Judith
Cranford, Executive Director of NOF.
“These figures underscore the importance
of this meeting in helping to advance a
better understanding of this serious,
often debilitating, disease.”
The meeting program was developed by
Planning Committee Co-Chairs Deborah T.
Gold, PhD, of Duke University Medical
Center and Robert Lindsay, MD, PhD, of
Helen Hayes Hospital, and Planning
Committee members Ethel Siris, MD, of
the College of Physicians and Surgeons
of Columbia University and Michael
Kleerekoper, MD, from Wayne State
University School of Medicine.
For more information on the ISO, please
visit NOF on-line at www.nof.org or call
(202) 223-2226.
About Osteoporosis:
Osteoporosis literally means “porous
bones.” It is a disease in which bones
become more fragile and likely to break,
even from a slight strain or fall. NOF
estimates 44 million American women and
men age 50 and older are at risk of
breaking a bone due to osteoporosis and
low bone mass. The Surgeon General's
Report states that 1.5 million fractures
related to osteoporosis cost the nation
$18 billion every year. Osteoporosis is
often called the “silent disease”
because there are no symptoms until a
bone breaks.
About NOF: Established in 1984,
the National Osteoporosis Foundation is
the nation’s leading voluntary health
organization solely dedicated to
osteoporosis and bone health. Our
mission is to prevent osteoporosis, to
promote lifelong bone health, to help
improve the lives of those affected by
osteoporosis and related fractures, and
to find a cure.
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