About 10.2 percent of men and 25.2 percent of women above the age of 50 have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, the Department of Health said yesterday on World Osteoporosis Day.
The Bureau of Health Promotion (BHP) said that a report from the International Osteoporosis Foundation’s (IOF) showed that among people above 50 years old, about one out of every two women and one out of every five men may suffer fragility fractures. The report also showed that fragility fractures in elderly people often occur in the hip bones rather than other body parts.
Hipbone fractures may also lead to disabilities, death and economic burdens, the BHP said, adding that about 20 to 24 percent of hip fracture patients die within a year of sustaining their injury, and about 40 percent of the patients cannot walk in the first year.
The aim of this year’s World Osteoporosis Day, designated by the IOF, was “stop at one,” which means proper treatment and evaluation are necessary to prevent repeated fractures, the BHP said, adding that about half of the people who have suffered a fragility fracture could face the problem again.
Citing the Ministry of the Interior’s population statistics for last year, the bureau said an estimated 352,000 men and 921,000 women suffer from osteoporosis, adding that bone mass usually reaches its peak between 20 to 30 years old and the loss of bone density in women increases rapidly following the menopause.
BHP Director-General Chiu Shu-ti (邱淑媞) urged developing bone mass as early as possible by taking in more high-calcium food, such as milk, cheese, black sesame and fish, getting sunlight to increase the production of vitamin D in the body and frequent exercise to strengthen bones.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry