December 20, 2012 — In Sweden, 70,000 fractures are caused by osteoporosis every year. It is one of the most expensive diseases and is estimated to cost society about SEK 4.6 billion annually. Today, osteoporosis can be diagnosed using a simple Swedish method and treated with inexpensive and effective medication. If all women over the age of 65 were examined in conjunction with their mammography examination, the progression of the disease could essentially be stopped. This would also entail major savings for taxpayers.
Osteoporosis primarily affects women, particularly after menopause, and causes skeletal fractures and severe pain. An osteoporosis fracture often entails major consequences for the individual. Only 30 percent regain their physical status after a femur-neck fracture.
Unfortunately knowledge about osteoporosis remains inadequate among many of those working in the health and medical care sector, which causes many people to go for extended periods without help, thus making the disease difficult to treat despite the availability of inexpensive and effective treatments.
Almost no one knows that they have osteoporosis, which is why it afflicts so many. Sweden has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis and upwards of 80 percent of all of those suffering from the disease do not receive treatment. One way of avoiding this is the early diagnosis of patients who require treatment. Sectra has a simple method to identify people who are at risk of developing osteoporosis. The identification of people at risk is crucial since most of those who suffer from osteoporosis are not aware of it before an injury occurs. Effective treatments that can prevent many fractures are currently available.
Independent assessments also indicate that taxpayers would gain considerable savings by identifying those at risk of osteoporosis and offering further examination and treatment.
Almost no one knows that they have osteoporosis, which is why it afflicts so many. Sectra’s method is identifying osteoporosis by measuring bone density. Sectra’s bone-density analysis, Sectra OneScreen, is based on radiology images of a patient’s hand. The image can easily be taken at the regular mammography examination.
For more information: www.sectra.com/medical