Most people with osteoporosis do not get the right treatment, a European medical conference was told yesterday.
Specialists called for early diagnosis of patients and early treatment.
The issue was being discussed at a conference of the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology in Vienna, Austria.
Professor Wolfhart Puhl, a previous president of the organisation, said orthopaedic specialists were frequently the first to see evidence of osteoporis when patients came in with fractures.
He warned: "Only just about half of those with the illness will even be diagnosed correctly and not even a quarter of them will get proper treatment."
The conference heard that a woman of 50 in Europe was as likely to die from a hip injury as from breast cancer.
The specialists were being briefed on new techniques for treating fractures in patients with osteoporosis.
Researchers are trying to understand how damaged bone heals itself with a view to improving therapy for patients.
Some 8,000 doctors are attending the conference.
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