Making no bones about a bone disease

DUBAI — The 3B (Better Bone Belt) National Osteoporosis Alliance will mark World Osteoporosis Week, from November 22 to 27, through a series of activities aimed at promoting awareness about this debilitating disease, such as risk assessment tests and bone density screening, which will be conducted for free all over the UAE through various women’s organizations, private entities, educational and health care institutions.

By A Staff Reporter

Published: Fri 22 Oct 2004, 10:41 AM

Last updated: Wed 14 Jun 2023, 1:18 PM

The many activities planned will be supported by Almarai. To date, the 3B Alliance has conducted 250 awareness seminars and osteoporosis screening throughout the UAE, reaching out to 5,000 men and women in the high risk group.

The campaign showed alarming results, almost 54 per cent of the women who were screened by the campaign were found to have osteopeniaó, a mid-stage condition between having healthy bones and being osteoporotic.

Dr. Mariam Matar, a family physician at the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms) and in charge of the clinic at the Dubai Women’s Club, said that treatment for osteoporosis is very simple if caught in time before the condition progresses and results in life threatening fractures. She said that unlike other diseases, osteoporosis does not have easily recognisable warning signs.

“A woman might notice she is loosing height and getting shorter, this results from compression of the vertebrae of the back and is a clear sign of osteoporosis. Women after the age of 55 and after menopause and men after the age of 70 actually begin to loose calcium from their bones. In fact one in eight men are at risk of developing osteoporosis as well, so this is not just a condition affecting women,” Dr. Matar said.

She stressed that exposure to the sun’s rays 20 minutes, three to four times a week in the morning, and a healthy diet are among the preventive measure that can be taken to avoid falling prey to the condition. Dr. Matar said treatment of the disease is easy and includes calcium supplements and medication to help in the absorption of calcium in the body, plus taking extra care to avoid fractures.

Berna Ramey, from the public relations firm Promax that handles the 3B account, was only 28 when she discovered, quite by accident, that she was osteopenic:

“I was calibrating a bone density measurement device when I decided to take the test myself to make sure it was properly calibrated. At first I could not believe the result and decided the device was not properly calibrated, but, several tests later the diagnosis was confirmed.”

“A life of dieting and not taking good care of yourself plus the influence of heredity may have predisposed me to develop this condition. I had a fracture earlier in my life for which I underwent surgery, but back then I did not know what osteoporosis was. This is why creating awareness within the community is so important, people need to know about this disease if we are to prevent osteoporosis from becoming an epidemic.”

Sumaya Al Jasem, spokesperson for the alliance, said that the overwhelming response from the public to the awareness campaign, particularly among women’s organisations in the country, is a major driving force that keeps the campaign moving forwards towards the fulfillment of its goals.

John O’Kelly, Marketing Manager for Al Marai, said: “At Al Marai we are delighted to strengthen our commitment to the osteoporosis awareness campaign, an involvement we started earlier this year and feel very strongly about. This is a health issue, which could affect us all, and we think it is important that proper information is available to the community.

“Therefore, Almarai is proud to support the Osteoporosis Awareness Campaign as main sponsor to make it possible to get such important messages across to the community. We strongly believe that together we can raise the awareness on this silent disease and work towards a healthier, more conscientious society.”

Free seminars

DUBAI — Free seminar and osteoporosis screening will be available from November 22 to 29 at the Deira City Centre, on November 23 at the Umm Al Moumineen Women’s Organisation in Ajman, on the 24th at the Jumeirah Beach Club, on the 25th at the Holiday Centre in Dubai, on the 29th in Al Liseily area and on the 30th at the Dubai Women’s Association.