PRINTER'S NO. 1974
No. 195 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY COSTA, APRIL 29, 1998
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, APRIL 29, 1998
A RESOLUTION
1 Declaring the month of May 1998 as "Pennsylvania Osteoporosis
2 Prevention Month."
3 WHEREAS, Osteoporosis, or porous bone, is a disease
4 characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of
5 bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased
6 susceptibility to fractures of the hip, spine and wrist; and
7 WHEREAS, Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for
8 more than 28 million Americans, 80% of whom are women; and
9 WHEREAS, In the United States today, 10 million individuals
10 already have the disease and 18 million more have low bone mass,
11 placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis; and
12 WHEREAS, One out of every two women and one in eight men over
13 50 years of age will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in
14 their lifetime; and
15 WHEREAS, While osteoporosis is often thought of as an older
16 person's disease, it can strike at any age; and
17 WHEREAS, Osteoporosis is responsible for 1.5 million
1 fractures annually, including more than 300,000 hip fractures,
2 700,000 vertebral fractures, 200,000 wrist fractures and more
3 than 300,000 fractures at other sites; and
4 WHEREAS, Osteoporosis is often called the "silent disease"
5 because bone loss occurs without symptoms; and
6 WHEREAS, People may not know that they have osteoporosis
7 until their bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump or
8 fall causes a fracture or a vertebra to collapse; and
9 WHEREAS, Specialized tests called bone density tests can
10 measure bone density in various sites of the body and can detect
11 osteoporosis before a fracture occurs, predict a person's
12 chances of a fracture in the future and determine the rate of
13 bone loss and monitor the effects of treatment if the test is
14 conducted at intervals of a year or more; and
15 WHEREAS, Building strong bones, especially before 35 years of
16 age, can be the best defense against developing osteoporosis,
17 and a healthy lifestyle can be critically important for keeping
18 bones strong; and
19 WHEREAS, Although there is no cure for osteoporosis, there
20 are treatments available to help stop further bone loss and
21 fractures; and
22 WHEREAS, May is "National Osteoporosis Prevention Month";
23 therefore be it
24 RESOLVED, That the Senate declare the month of May 1998 as
25 "Pennsylvania Osteoporosis Prevention Month" and encourage the
26 residents of this Commonwealth to gain a greater awareness of
27 the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
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