Newsletter
Extracts from the March 2006 Newsletter
Opening Words
Recently I had the pleasure of assisting in judging a number of pictures completed by young children as part of our Healthy Bones schools’ initiative. My pleasure was shared by Ros Harre and Helena Anderson. It may be a cliché, but there were no ‘losers’ amongst the works we looked at. Hopefully, the results will appear in the local press and also in a subsequent Newsletter.
There was to be further pleasure on our annual Social night in January, when Roger Lines, along with the Norfolk Reeds, entertained us very well. That the evening was a success was due, not only to the entertainers, but also to those people who prepared the food, to those who laid it out and to the unsung heroes working in the kitchen!
Here’s to Spring.
From our Chairman, John Fludgate
April 2006 Roadshows & Scanning Days
More Osteoporosis Roadshows
Burnham Market, Village Hall, Beacon Hill (off Creake Road)
Saturday 22 April 2006
April sees another two of our Osteoporosis Roadshows: in Swaffham on 8 April, and Burnham Market on 22 April 2006. Nearly 100 people attended the Wisbech Roadshow and nearly 250 the Downham Market one. We hope Swaffham and Burnham Market will prove equally successful.
Swaffham, Norfolk
The next of the Roadshows will be held in Swaffham at the Community Centre, Campingland, Beech Close on Saturday 8 April 2006.
See the Swaffham venue on a map.
Burnham Market, Norfolk
After Swaffham, we will be in Burnham Market at the Village Hall, Beacon Hill (off Creake Road) on Saturday 22 April 2006.
See the Burnham Market venue on a map.
As with the first two Swaffham and Burnham Market will have stalls on osteoporosis and other related subjects, speaker sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), and wrist scanning for 30 people, by appointment only.
Anybody wanting more information or an appointment for a wrist scan needs to contact the Secretary.
Forthcoming Fund-raising Events
See our Diary Dates for a comprehensive list.
GEAR 10 k Race | 28 May 2006
The Great East Anglia Run
28 May 2006, King’s Lynn
The Great East Anglia Run (GEAR) is our own locally-organised 10 k road race around King’s Lynn’s Town Centre. You may have seen information about the event in the local papers. A 5 k two-loop route is planned, to take in the town’s rich heritage and its new pedestrian centre, starting and finishing in The Walks.
It may be that not many of us will be fit enough to take part. In that case, can you encourage a nominee to participate for you? Running vests or skeleton suits can be provided, and good media coverage is guaranteed (contact the Secretary for help with this). We have sponsorship forms available. The more people we get, the more impressive our Team Osteoporosis will be.
Entry forms and more details are available at leisure centres, libraries and swimming pools, or via the event website at www.greateastangliarun.co.uk.
Entries will not be accepted on the day. Last date for receipt of entries will be 19 May. You have to be 15 years or above to enter the race.
At last we have a local event, saving us therefore from the cost and inconvenience of travelling to London or Birmingham to take part in a run. Let’s make the most of it!
Remember, we would also like people to come along to cheer on our contestants. It’s amazing what a difference this makes. Just when you’re tiring, a friendly face and words of encouragement make the legs work again.
Lions’ Stall | 28 May 2005
Linked with the GEAR event, the King’s Lynn Lions are staging their annual Fun Day in The Walks, King’s Lynn, on the same day. This means that from about 12 noon a carnival afternoon is on offer with stalls (yes, that’s where we will be as well) and fun acts. Food stalls will be there too.
So you see, we will need a great deal of help to cover all this.
Valuing our Members
Come and be pampered
In July, the AGM will start at 7.00 PM on Thursday 27 July 2006, followed by a Pampering Party. At our Roadshows, we ask several complementary therapists to attend, and they kindly give their services for free. We thought you might like the opportunity to try some of these yourselves.
We are hoping to offer reflexology, Indian head massage, yoga, t’ai chi, healthy eating and aromatherapy. We still have to confirm details, but: put the date in your diary. We hope to see as many of you as possible because it is our Tenth Birthday Party, and there will be special invitees as well. We can confirm the details in the next issue.
Guided Town Walk free to our members
On Thursday 28 September 2006 our idea is to arrange a Town walk with a light tea back at the Methodist Hall, before a talk by Dr Paul Richards on local history. The Group will pay for members’ contribution to pay for the Town Guide… so everyone’s a winner.
Watch out for the times and details in our next issue.
News from NOS
What are the chances of breaking a bone? New report to calculate risk over 10 years
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is currently reviewing the way in which GPs assess your risk of breaking a bone. It is hoped that the study, undertaken by an international team of osteoporosis experts, will provide a clearer picture on the best way to treat people living with the disease and when to prescribe medication.
Currently, doctors look at various risk factors to determine whether or not to send you for a bone density scan. By combining the scan results and your risk factors, your doctor will decide whether you need a drug treatment to slow down the process of bone breakdown and prevent a fracture.
However, the world of osteoporosis is always moving forward, with research studies giving us a greater insight into the disease. It is now understood that bone density alone is not a perfect predictor for who will go on to break a bone because of osteoporosis. Specialists are now in a much better position to understand more about the broad spectrum of people who have osteoporosis, from those who have low bone density and are at low risk of breaking a bone, to those with a low bone density who are at high risk of fracture.
The WHO review, led by Professor John Kanis, head of the Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases at the University of Sheffield Medical School, aims to provide doctors with a tool which will measure a range of risk factors – including weight, family history, previous fragility fracture, smoking and age – to determine how high your chances are of breaking a bone in a 10 year period. This will then help doctors target those who need to start taking a drug treatment.
Reporting on the study, Professor Kanis points out:
Although bone mass is an important component of the risk of fracture, other abnormalities occur in the skeleton that also contribute to its fragility. A variety of non-skeletal factors, such as liability to fall and force of impact, contribute to the fracture risk.
The fracture risk assessment will be published by WHO as a technical report, hopefully during the middle of 2006. It is likely to have a major influence on work currently being done by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that is currently drafting guidelines for the NHS on how to treat people at high risk of breaking a bone but who have yet to do so (the primary prevention of osteoporotic fractures).
It will provide tables showing the 10 year fracture risk, expressed as a percentage, in men and women according to their age, bone mineral density value, and the presence/absence of other independent risk factors for fractures, such as a family history of broken bones because of osteoporosis, previous fragility fractures, corticosteroid use and smoking.
Angela Jordan, NOS policy manager, said:
There are currently a plethora of guidelines out there for doctors and, understandably, this can leave many confused.
This is not the same for other clinical therapy areas where practitioners look at the risk factors and use a tool to predict your chance of, for instance, having a stroke or heart attack. These tools don’t exist for osteoporosis and this is what the review is trying to address.
Locally, the Strategic Health Authority is currently looking to standardise procedures across its area. That covers, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk.
If you want to find out more and to monitor the progress of this Report, you need to join the NOS. These kinds of reports keep its members well informed and up to date with current events.
Membership is still only £15 per year, and very good value it is too. You’ll find on our Contact page the NOS contact details.
Recent Group Events
Scottish Dancing | November 2005
Mary Cox introduced the King’s Lynn & District Scottish Dance Group and told us a little about the dances.
Scottish dancing is traditional, but this doesn’t mean that no new dances have been written. Scottish Societies are spread around the world, and the group showed us some dances written in Australia and New Zealand, all set to original Scottish melodies.
The King’s Lynn & District Group was formed 20 years ago and meets in Dersingham. They dance several times a week and their level of fitness shows.
They danced a number of reels and the slower strathspeys, showing the difference between fast and slow dances.
The dancers were so light on their feet and excelled in the complicated patterns danced. Obviously this exercise needs mental as well as physical agility.
With the swirling kilts and white dresses and the lilting music this made a delightful evening’s entertainment, certainly putting us in the Christmas spirit.
Our January Social | January 2006
We always look forward to the January Social, timed just far enough after Christmas to give us a little breathing space.
This has become, traditionally, our opportunity to thank some of those people who have helped us during the year — not necessarily our members, but definitely our supporters. During the year they have rattled collecting tins, organised a Car Boot Sale, supported us with good press coverage, baked cakes, marked quiz papers and helped with dozens of other things.
As usual, the buffet was marvellous. Many thanks to all of you who contributed to this. The brain-teasers set by Ken caused some hilarious competition and we were sorry that Ken and Ellen could not be with us this year to see it.
So many of our regular members were ill and we send them our good wishes.
Thanks go to Roger Lines and his clarinet group, The Norfolk Reeds, for the entertainment. The 10 musicians gave a varied programme of music. The alto and bass instruments used in the ensemble gave depth and colour to the performance.
