The London Osteoporosis Clinic (LOC) is campaigning to put anatomically accurate model skeletons in every UK school in a bid to raise awareness for osteoporosis, a disease that claims 1,100 lives a month.
Described by health professionals as a ‘silent assassin’, osteoporosis can strike a patient at any point, without displaying any symptoms or warning. The disease occurs when the lattice-like structure of our bones thins, making the bones susceptible to easy breaks. For example, a patient suffering from the condition could break their arm just from brushing their hair, or break a rib from hugging a friend.
And Dr Taher Mahmud of the LOC believes that the disease will continue to destroy lives until children are made aware of the dangers they face in later life, with osteoporosis most commonly occurring after the age of 50.
“There are an estimated 3 million people suffering from osteoporosis in the UK – and yet the condition can be easily prevented. We need to educate children of the dangers osteoporosis brings, and the best ways to prevent it from effecting their lives. Imagine telling a child that they could break a rib from apple bobbing at Halloween. We need to make the information relative, and fun where possible.”
Simple measures such as exercising regularly, consuming bone healthy nutrients and informing the public from a young age about the importance of bone health can go a long way in reducing the number of UK sufferers.
“Health professionals need to stand together and say that the current rate of suffering is unacceptable. The easiest way to effect immediate change is through educating our children.”
And considering that 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men will suffer from osteoporosis after the age of 50, adding to the staggering 170,000 osteoporosis related fractures which occur each year purely from hip, wrist and spinal injuries, it is hard to disagree.
The LOC’s move to put a skeleton in every UK school is designed to attract the attention of the nation’s pupils, many of whom will not have had the opportunity to interact with a skeleton model in the classroom, a detail lamented by Dr Mahmud. “Children are naturally imaginative and inquisitive, and there is an opportunity here for them to have fun and enjoy learning about their bone health. The model skeletons offer them that chance.”
