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Patient Champions of the National
Osteoporosis Foundation Meet with Their
Royal Highnesses The Duchess of Cornwall
and The Prince of Wales to Discuss
Osteoporosis During Official U.S. Visit
(Washington,
DC)
November 2, 2005 – Their Royal
Highnesses The Duchess of Cornwall
accompanied by The Prince of Wales will
meet with the National Osteoporosis
Foundation (NOF) and several of the
Foundation’s patient champions on
Thursday,
November 3, 2005
during a meeting at the National
Institutes of Health. The meeting will
focus on increasing awareness of
osteoporosis, a disease which the U.S.
Surgeon General has recognized as a
growing public health threat in his
landmark report released in 2004.
The Duchess serves as president of the
National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) in
the UK. As sister organizations, NOF and
NOS are the leading voluntary health
organizations in their respective
countries dedicated solely to
osteoporosis and bone health.
“Osteoporosis-related fractures occur in
one in two women and one in four men
over the age of 50 in the U.S. today,
yet we know that this disabling and
costly condition is largely
preventable,” says Dr. Ethel Siris,
President of NOF and
Director of the Toni
Stabile Center for the Prevention and
Treatment of Osteoporosis at New
York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia
University Medical Center.
“We appreciate Her Royal Highness The
Duchess of Cornwall’s long-standing
commitment to raising awareness of this
disease and we look forward to meeting
her.”
Established in 1984, NOF is working to
make bone health a reality and a
lifelong priority for all individuals
through programs of awareness, public
and health professional education,
advocacy and research.
An estimated 44 million American men and
women ages 50 and older either have or
are at risk for the disease, according
to NOF prevalence statistics.
Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a
disease characterized by low bone mass
and structural deterioration of bone
tissue, leading to bone fragility and an
increased susceptibility to fractures,
especially of the hip, spine and wrist,
although any bone can be affected.
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