About National Osteoporosis Society
Osteoporosis affects one in three women and one in 12 men over the age of 50.
The skeleton becomes so porous that the simplest knock or fall can break a bone, particularly in the wrist, spine and hip. But it is not an inevitable part of ageing, and can happen to young people too.
More than 3 million people in the UK suffer from osteoporosis and sadly almost everyone will know someone affected by this disease. Osteoporosis can lead to chronic pain, destroying quality of life. It is however, largely preventable and treatable.
NOS offers support for people with osteoporosis, and their carers, and provides information to warn people at risk. It has a special helpline, staffed by six nurses, which takes more than 26,000 calls every year from members of the public and healthcare professionals needing expert, unbiased information.
The charity also offers a comprehensive range of booklets, leaflets and a quarterly members’ magazine and a professional journal. More information can also be found at its website www.nos.org.uk
There are also more than 130 local volunteer NOS support groups across the country where people can meet others socially and share experiences, thereby reducing the feelings of isolation which so many people suffer when they are first diagnosed. The charity also organises public awareness meetings in towns across the UK in order to increase awareness of the disease and the NOS.
Childhood and adolescence is a vital time for building strong bones so it is a priority for the NOS to try to reach young people during these vital years.
The charity produces materials to educate young people about issues around diet, exercise and smoking. Healthy Bones packs, aimed at increasing the knowledge and understanding of the skeleton and its growth, are distributed to 20,000 primary schools throughout the UK and the NOS is also producing and distributing 200,000 teenage leaflets to secondary schools across the UK.
These emphasise the importance of building strong bones during the teenage years to help prevent osteoporosis in the future and to help combat the damaging effects of the growing incidence of eating disorders in young women.
The NOS helps the NHS to implement the charity’s own tried-and-tested osteoporosis strategy in primary care to ensure good practice in its diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
The charity runs training days for nurses, doctors and health professionals and works directly with primary care organisations. NOS study days and the bi-annual Bath Conference inform health professionals about the latest developments in osteoporosis diagnosis and treatment, helping them to identify people at risk within their own practice and improve the service available to their patients.
More research is desperately needed into vital questions like pain relief, osteoporosis in men and in children.
The NOS needs to be able to fund research that reflects the real life needs of its members, alleviates their suffering and helps prevent this devastating disease.
The charity currently funds about £200,000 worth of research every year.
Our history
In 1986, doctors at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Bath were concerned that people were unaware of the risks of osteoporosis.
Medical practice on diagnosis, treatment and prevention was patchy. The National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) was launched in a blaze of publicity with backing from the Department of Health and the Chief Medical Officer.
The charity grew quickly and soon became an indispensable resource for doctors and other healthcare professionals. It is a mainstay for many who live with the disease, but with more than three million people affected in the UK, often struggling with chronic pain and disability, the NOS needs to be able to help more people.
A group of the UK’s leading osteoporosis experts - now more than 80 strong - from a variety of disciplines, informs the NOS on its publications, information services and policy.
The NOS has a unique role. It draws together the many disciplines involved in osteoporosis - for example, orthopaedics, rheumatology, geriatrics, general practice, endrocrinology, gynaecology, physiotherapy, nursing, nutrition and health economics - together with NOS staff and more than 27,000 members to provide unrivalled expertise.
As the UK’s authoritative voice on osteoporosis, the NOS will continue to campaign to make people aware of their own bone health, and make further steps towards eradicating this painful and debilitating disease.
The NOS is a registered charity, dependent on donations large and small. The generous support of individuals, companies, trusts and grant-giving bodies makes its work possible.