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Spring Survey 2012

Closing Comments

Program: Getting Help to Fight Osteoporosis
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Andrew Schorr:

All right. One last question to you, Dr. Kohlmeier. So we've talked and tried to stress for the audience that osteoporosis and the risk of fracture and the devastating effects of fracture should not be ignored. What do you want to say to the audience listening?

Dr. Kohlmeier:

I think one of the take home messages is that when you fracture it's serious, and it's a bone attack, as many of our colleagues have used the term. And that's a

point where it's not too late and we need to go back and start from the beginning and think about how we can improve bone density, bone strength and reduce fractures.

On the other side of the spectrum is prevention and to think about it in our children as our adolescents are exercising and hopefully not drinking soda instead of orange juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D. So it's a whole spectrum of prevention and treatment.

Andrew Schorr:

I know you have a wonderful event in Spokane related to osteoporosis. What's that?

Dr. Kohlmeier:

We do. It's the Wonder Woman Triathlon for osteoporosis awareness, and there are many other athletic events for all sorts of other important conditions. And the National Osteoporosis Foundation and others have had walks for osteoporosis, but this is the only triathlon to my knowledge in country for osteoporosis. And this year was our third year. And I think programs like this one that we're doing here and athletic events really help increase awareness not only in our community but throughout the country.

We have about 700 women participating, about 4,000 spectators and this year we had 20 teams where one woman would do one part of the triathlon and each of those osteoporosis teams had one woman with osteoporosis, and she did the three mile walk around the lake.

I think for the community awareness piece we had hundreds of people screened, and as we started at the beginning of the program talking about men and how they're not screened enough, we made every effort we could to get every man that was at the park watching their women racers come and get a heel ultrasound bone density test.

Andrew Schorr:

Well, congratulations on that event, and thank you so much for helping people who are afflicted by this. And one of them again is with us, Dave Peckham. So, Dave, you're doing better, but it took you a while to get to the right person to help. What would you say to listeners who are maybe worried about this for themselves or their family?

Dave:

Well, obviously I was an unusual case, but if you've got a fracture that's not healing in six weeks and then you have more than one fracture then you've got to be suspicious that it's osteoporosis.

Andrew Schorr:

And you have to keep pushing to get an answer and get help from someone who is knowledgeable.

Dave:

Yeah, and for a primary care physician it's often out of their realm, so you have to find a specialist who will be familiar with what you're going through.

Andrew Schorr:

Often true, although in fairness to Dr. Bauer he is a primary care doctor. Dr. Bauer, so from your point of view, not every primary care doctor is up on this and they have got to worry about cholesterol and blood pressure and diabetes and so many things. And as we said in our last program, what would you say to our listening audience so this is put on the take as well, the family history is discussed and their osteoporosis risk or having it is properly assessed and dealt with?

Dr. Bauer:

Absolutely. I would just argue that primary care doctors, like all doctors and patients are busy, and it may require the patient being motivated to make sure that this does fall off the list of important things that are discussed in that visit. And I've even had patients that have reminded me despite the fact that I think about this every single day that I haven't really talked to them about their osteoporosis risk, and I was very happy when they reminded me. And it really is something that I would encourage patients to do because it's in their best interest and we're all trying to reduce the burden of osteoporosis, but that can only be done when we appropriately identify patients and evaluate them and talk about preventative measures.

Andrew Schorr:

I want to thank our guests for being with us and really helping us better understand this in our second program in this series. We're going to do a third program coming up that's going to discuss specifically treatments and research and help you understand the range and what the future research is going, future trends in osteoporosis. But I think for so many people we want to limit your risk. We want to help our children have strong bones, and we want to help all of us, as Dr. Bauer's explaining, as we're building new bone cells all the time, be as strong as we can to avoid fracture, if we've had a fracture, certainly avoid them in the future. Dave, we want to wish you all the best in recovering from osteoporosis and out of the recliner and hopefully you'll be swimming. And you're starting to exercise again, now, right?

Dave:

Yes, that is correct.

Andrew Schorr:

Okay. All the best to you. And your doctor, Dr. Lynn Kohlmeier from Spokane Osteoporosis Center, thank you for all you do, Doctor, and we appreciate you being with us.

Dr. Kohlmeier:

Thank you.

Andrew Schorr:

And Dr. Doug Bauer from UCSF, thank you for helping us have greater understanding of osteoporosis. Thanks for being with us.

Dr. Bauer:

My pleasure.

Andrew Schorr:

Well, this is what we do on Patient Power. Special thanks to our colleague in all this, Washington Osteoporosis Coalition, for helping people not just in Washington state but across the US and around the world. And we also thank funding educational grants from Amgen and Novartis.

I'm Andrew Schorr. Remember, knowledge can be the best medicine of all.

Please remember the opinions expressed on Patient Power are not necessarily the views of Washington Osteoporosis Coalition, its medical staff or Patient Power. Our discussions are not a substitute for seeking medical advice or care from your own doctor. That’s how you’ll get care that’s most appropriate for you.

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