May is National Osteoporosis Awareness month. Osteoporosis, a serious bone-thinning disorder, makes bones fragile and prone to fracture. It has no symptoms and may progress painlessly until a bone breaks. Women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis.

Academy Award winning actress Sally Field ate well, exercised and maintained a physically active lifestyle. But these factors weren’t enough to protect her from osteoporosis and just shy of her 60th birthday, Sally was diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Since that time, she has been treated with medication that slows bone loss, increased her calcium and Vitamin D intake and been followed closely by her doctor. Today, Sally Field is well on her way back to good bone health and recently spoke before members of Congress about the importance of raising awareness about osteoporosis.

“Osteoporosis and low bone mass is a national health issue, threatening more than 44 million Americans age 50 and older,” Field said. But once detected, the disease is treatable and even reversible. A BMD, or bone mineral density test, can detect the thinning of bone that occurs with osteoporosis.

The actress has begun her own campaign sponsored by Roche and GlaxoSmithKline called Rally with Sally for Bone HealthSM. On the Rally with Sally website, women are encouraged to protect their bone health by pledging to:

* Get adequate calcium and vitamin D
* Take their osteoporosis medication as directed
* Exercise to build strength
* Visit their doctors regularly

For more information on osteoporosis and Sally’s campaign:

Rally With Sally For Bone Health

National Osteoporosis Foundation