OSTEOPOROSIS leaves many women in pain, causing brittle bones which are easily broken. June has been named Osteoporosis month to try and highlight the problem which leads to much suffering for thousands of women. It can even cause death. Gayle Evans reports.

RETIRED GP Janet Bisset should have known something was not right when her husband gave her a loving hug -- and broke one of her ribs. But it was not until she fractured a second rib, while chasing a spider around the bedroom, that the former Bradshaw family doctor realised there was a problem.

That problem was osteoporosis -- a brittle bone condition which can be caused by hormonal changes or deficiency of calcium or vitamin D.

It is responsible for the premature deaths of 12,000 women in Britain every year.

Dr Bisset, whose husband and fellow GP Dr Harry Bisset, died after a suffering a heart attack on Trinity Street rail station in 1994, decided to go for a bone density scan after she broke her second rib.

The busy grandmother explains: "I thought everything would be all right. I was shocked when they told me that I had a very low score.

"But they put me on Hormone Replacement Therapy and some calcium treatment and I thought I was doing really well.

"But in January, I sat down in a chair very gracefully and broke both my ankles!"

Dr Bisset, who has three grown up children, blames a low fat diet -- despite a childhood growing up on a farm and drinking cows milk.

Escalating weight gain after having her children convinced Dr Bisset to follow a low fat diet, which consequently affected the strength of her bones.

"It was all my own fault really," she says.

But despite the fact her bones were weakening for many years, her symptoms did not appear until she snapped the rib for the first time.

Dr Bisset failed to recognise that she was at risk despite helping many female patients who came into her practice with advanced symptoms.

In Bolton, consultant Dr Keatley Adams, says he deals with more than 1,000 patients a year with suspected osteoporosis.

He is pressing Royal Bolton Hospital bosses for a special dexa scanner to test bones.

The disease weakens the bones, which become porous and fragile, making them break easier.

Although osteoporosis is commonly linked to women, men can also get it through an over active thyroid or ceoliac disease or having low testosterone levels.

Drinking alcohol and taking steroids also puts men at a higher risk.

In Bolton, out of every 12 patients diagnosed, one will be a man.

Linda Edwards, director of the National Osteoporosis Society, said the condition can cause many problems in everyday life. "Osteoporotic fractures can affect a woman's quality of life in many ways, from the simplest of tasks.

"Picking up a bag of shopping, putting on shoes and even being hugged can cause pain."

The big worry is that osteoporosis, and all the problems it causes is expected to increase in the future.

Mrs Edwards adds: "We are concerned that the unhealthy lifestyles of many of today's teenagers means that the disease is set to escalate."

Osteoporosis itself is not fatal, but the injuries it causes can lead to death.

As well as hip fractures, which can be very serious, the disease often leads to fractures of the spine.

This can result in a reduction in height, culiminating in organs being crushed together, sometimes causing breathing and internal problems.

The society, which campaigns for the treatment and diagnosis of osteoporosis, has recently appointed Camilla Parker Bowles as its president.

Her family has suffered from the condition.

She says: "I became involved with osteoporosis after my mother and my grandmother both tragically died as a result of this crippling disease. My mother was only 72.

"Then, only eight years ago, osteoporosis was seldom discussed, rarely diagnosed and usually attributed to old women with a so-called dowager's hump."

She adds: "My mother quite literally shrank before our eyes.

"She lost about eight inches in height and became so bent that she was unable to digest her food properly and had no appetite as a result."

FACTFILE

There are more women sufferers because they have smaller, less dense bones than men.

A lack of oestrogen can also lead to the condition. This can be caused by a menopause before the age of 45 and a hysterectomy before the same age, particularly if both ovaries are removed.

Missing periods for six months or more, which can be caused by over-exercise or excessive dieting, can also be a factor.

It is estimated osteoporosis costs the UK more than £1.7 billion a year.

The NOS believes not enough money is being spent on diagnosing those at risk and treating them.

Over the last eight years £1.7 million has been awarded for research.

In a recent survey, 56 per cent of women were unaware of the symptoms.

A total of 66 per cent believed there was little that could be done to treat it.

The condition can be treated with hormone replacement therapy for women and testosterone therapy for men.