“In the absence of effective preventive measures, around 40% of women aged 50 will suffer at least one major osteoporotic fracture; in men, the percentage is around 20%,” he says.

“Moreover, people often do not realize the severity of the condition. In the elderly, fractures of the femoral neck, near the hip, have a 20% mortality rate in the year following the fracture, and over half of those affected are never able to return to pre-fracture activities.”

A diagnosis of osteoporosis is usually followed by treatment with systemic drugs that work either by decreasing the resorption rate of old bone (anti-catabolism) or boosting new bone production (anabolism). But both types of treatment can take up to a year to have an effect, leaving patients vulnerable to fracture in the meantime.