Fractures After 50
Fractures in people over 50 can lead to:
- Over two-thirds (66%) of Australians over 50 have poor bone health including osteoporosis or osteopenia.
- It is the fastest rising chronic disease in Australia.
Premature Death
Around 25-30% of people die within 12 months of a hip fracture. This risk is not just due to the break itself—fractures can act as a trigger for other health complications, particularly in those with existing conditions.
The Growing Impact of Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is the fastest-rising chronic disease in Australia. Between 2001 and 2018, the rate of osteoporotic fractures more than doubled—outpacing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
One in three women and one in five men over 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime.
These fractures account for more than 165,000 hospitalisations each year across Australia.
Research
Bone health research has been overlooked for too long. It doesn’t attract the attention—or the funding—of cancer or heart disease, yet it affects millions of older Australians and their families.
Fractures can be life-changing and life-shortening, but with more research, they don’t have to be. Understanding how bone weakness leads to fractures—and why a single break can trigger premature death—is essential to saving lives.
There’s no single cause of osteoporosis; it’s a complex interaction of genetics, lifestyle, and environment. That’s why we urgently need to invest in research that will predict, prevent, and protect those most at risk.
More research is also needed to discover:
- Why some people are at higher risk of having another fracture
- How to better predict who is most vulnerable to future fractures
- The key factors that lead to greater disability after a fracture
- How underlying health conditions interact with fractures to worsen outcomes
- The most effective ways to reach and support people at risk—so they receive the best possible care to prevent first or further fractures
Welcome to the Bone research foundation where research innovation meets commitment to advancing bone health
Our focus is to:
Help drive cutting-edge research to identify the (so far) hidden dynamics and [physiology] of bone fractures and their inter-relationship with other diseases, so as to finally discover the keys to improving treatments and outcomes for sufferers
Using that research, fund and promote the development of programs, protocols and tools to be used whenever a person suffers a fracture, to help get that person back to the best health possible;
Foster awareness of the need for research to enhance the quality of life for people affected by bone-related conditions.