The Foundation for Osteoporosis Research and Education

American Bone Health is taking the lead on a project to more deeply understand the perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of Latinas concerning osteoporosis, fractures and bone health and to develop educational tools, methods and delivery strategies that will effectively motivate Latinas to take appropriate prevention steps. Hip fractures have doubled among California Latinas since 1983, while remaining unchanged or declining in other ethnic groups (Zigmond, 2004). <p>Despite prevention efforts, Latinas as a group do not take recommended actions to protect themselves from bone loss, osteoporosis and fractures. Creating effective osteoporosis disease management in the Latino population will require coordination within the health system.&nbsp;To address this health system challenge, FORE convened a number of partners to design an effective community-based intervention that supports improved identification, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis for Latinos. The outcomes of this planning process are to 1) understand how to enhance preventive bone health messages for Latinas; 2) develop and test culturally and linguistically appropriate tools and strategies for the messages; and, 3) create an effective intervention plan to support osteoporosis management among Latinas and an evaluation plan to measure success. The partners all have unique strengths to contribute to a successful planning outcome and include La Cl&#237;nica de la Raza, a regional Latino health care provider, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, the California Hispanic Osteoporosis Foundation and Procter &amp; Gamble Pharmaceuticals.</p> <p>This project is supported with a grant from the <a href="http://www.johnmuirhealth.com/index.php/jmmdhs_benefits_fund.html" target="_blank">John Muir Community Health Fund</a>.</p>

The Athletic Energy Deficit (AED) Prevention Project targets young female athletes and active girls age 10-18 with the goal of encouraging girls to be strong, healthy, and competitive for a lifetime. The AED Prevention Project aims to improve bone acquisition and reduce other complications that result from athletic energy deficit syndrome.&nbsp;For young girls, regular exercise can bring health benefits without causing AED as long as careful attention is paid.&nbsp;Armed with awareness of Athletic Energy Deficit, girls, their parents and coaches can make sure young female athletes are growing where it really counts &#8211; down deep in their bones. <p><em>&nbsp;</em></p> <p>Clara Horowitz, a NCAA 5-Time All American, suffered from AED throughout her high school and college years. With the support of family, friends and other health care professionals, Clara was able to reverse the deficit and is now competing better than ever. Clara has agreed to be our spokesperson and will help many young athletes understand that proper nutrition is not only important for healthy bone development, but for sustained performance as well. Clara will speak to groups of young people and their teachers, counselors or coaches about the red flags that young women athletes should look for, focusing on the following four steps:</p> <p ><strong><em>Step 1: Know the danger</em></strong></p> <p >Persistent AED can hurt the performance of female athletes, and more importantly, pose a danger both to reproductive health and bone development. </p> <p ><strong><em>Step 2: Educate young female athletes</em></strong></p> <p >Both parents and coaches are urged to conduct open discussions with athletes about the relationship between AED and poor bone development. </p> <p ><strong><em>Step 3: Watch for signs of a problem</em></strong></p> <p >Amenorrhea is the only definitive symptom of AED. Concern is appropriate if a girl has not started her first menstrual period by age 15 or has missed several consecutive periods. </p> <p ><strong><em>Step 4: Prevention</em></strong></p> <p >Athletes can maintain positive energy balance by consuming enough nutrition to offset the energy expended during physical activity. </p>

&nbsp;The Bone Health at Home Program includes a hotline and call-based support group for those diagnosed with osteoporosis or with other bone health concerns.&nbsp;This hotline and call-based support group are the first of their kind in the nation. <p>Both the hotline and twice-monthly call-based support group allow us to provide prevention and intervention services to individuals in the privacy of their own homes, which is an enormous advantage as individuals we target often have limited mobility and/or transportation issues.&nbsp;We can also serve people in rural communities who often do not have access to bone health services.&nbsp;The support group will also offer the added benefit of developing a sense of community among those suffering from osteoporosis.&nbsp;</p> <p>The hotline is staffed by a team of trained volunteer peer counselors.&nbsp;We recruit prospective peer counselors who have been affected by osteoporosis and/or those who demonstrate a passion for improving bone health.&nbsp;We also seek bilingual individuals, particularly in Spanish, Russian, Korean and the Chinese languages.&nbsp;</p> The call-based support group will be offered twice monthly on our website at <a href="http://www.americanbonehealth.org/">www.americanbonehealth.org</a>.&nbsp;Individuals may access the support group either through a web-based telephone or by calling a toll-free number where they can participate via conference call.&nbsp;The moderator will appear in streaming media format on the website.&nbsp;We will hire a health care professional on a contract basis to moderate the support group.&nbsp;The group will give participants the opportunity to express emotions and concerns that may arise after a diagnosis of osteoporosis or weakened bone health, as well as giving them the chance to connect with others in a similar situation and receive immediate answers to questions they may have about medication, diet, exercise, physical therapy or other interventions.&nbsp;

Since 1993, American Bone Health has been conducting our Northern California Bone and Mineral Club, an ACCME-accredited education series designed for physicians and other health care providers with the aim of providing them with practical applications of the latest science and research in bone health. We now conduct our Bone and Mineral Club electronically through a series of six podcasts, on such topics as osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), fracture risk assessment, early cell differentiation fat cells/bone cells, and review of the annual American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) conference. <p>This format offers several distinct advantages over a live presentation:</p> <p >&#183;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Reaching a far greater number of health care professionals, increasing the breadth of our osteoporosis outreach</p> <p >&#183;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Marketing the programs in rural areas, where both CME activities are less plentiful than in urban areas, resulting in physicians who can gain the knowledge necessary to improve osteoporosis interventions among rural patients.&nbsp;</p> <p >&#183;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Providing an electronic format is much more convenient, given extreme time constraints among health care providers, individuals will be able to access the podcast 24 hours a day on our website free of charge</p> <p >&#183;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being more cost-effective, which allows us to offer more topics and educational opportunities and utilize agency resources most effectively.</p> <p >In switching to an electronic series, we want to ensure that physicians still have the opportunity to receive CME credit for downloading one of our podcasts.&nbsp;A list of content questions will be available on our website that physicians may answer after listening to the podcast.&nbsp;For each podcast, physicians may report up to 1 hour of Category 1 credits toward the California Medical Association&#8217;s Certification in Continuing Education and the American Medical Association&#8217;s Physician&#8217;s Recognition Award.</p>

American Bone Health screens older adults using the FORE Fracture Risk Calculator&#212; (FRC) developed by our Medical Advisory Board member, Dr. Bruce Ettinger. &nbsp;Within 30 seconds, adults age 45 and older can access their ten-year fracture risk by answering a series of questions on a computer.&nbsp;This calculator can potentially revolutionize osteoporosis screening—it is cheaper and faster than a bone density (DXA) scan and can be accessed online by the patient herself or himself, yet it is just as accurate in predicting fracture risk as a DXA scan. <p>The calculator can be accessed through our website at <a href="http://www.americanbonehealth.org/">www.americanbonehealth.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> This calculator uses several standard risk factors to calculate 10-year fracture risk. Starting with age, the calculator examines whether an individual is at higher (or lower) risk based on comparing risk factors. Doctors use risk-assessment for other diseases like breast cancer and heart disease. These tools are widely used to help decide whether treatment (usually drugs) is needed. We are now able to use a similar method for osteoporosis and have treatment recommendations based on the results.&nbsp;This tool can be used when bone density test results need to be explained or to determine a patient&#8217;s risk for fracture. It will help doctors talk with their patients when a drug might reduce the risks of osteoporotic fractures.