Pay attention to your bones!

One recurring theme last week at the NOF ISO9 in Las Vegas was the need for more public awareness of the epidemic of  osteoporosis. Since it is a silent disease until a fracture occurs, it seems to be in the category of "out of sight, out of mind". I want to encourage everyone to do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to keep your bones strong and balance good so that you  don't fall!

The statistics are staggering and the stakes are high! If you are a 50 year old woman, you have a 50% chance of having an osteoporosis-related fracture in your remaining lifetime and men over 50 have a 25% chance.

From the National Osteoporosis Foundation's website:

Prevalence

• Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans, or 55 percent of the people 50 years of age and older.
• In the U.S. today, 10 million individuals are estimated to already have the disease and almost 34 million more are estimated to have low bone density, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis and broken bones.
• While osteoporosis is often thought of as an older person's disease, it can strike at any age.
• Of the 10 million Americans estimated to have osteoporosis, eight million are women and two million are men.