Thousands of women suffering from painful fractures … Because doctors think they are ‘too young’ to have osteoporosis

When Michelle Clark stumbled a concrete step in November 2018, she resigned it. But within a few hours the mother was of two unbearable pain and practical immobile.

Hospital scans revealed that Michelle, then 56, had broken her right kneecap. Doctors applied a cast and said they were resting, in the expectation that it would heal after eight weeks.

Only almost a year later, when she broke her right hand while she walked her dog, the true cause of her repeated injuries came to light.

She was diagnosed with osteoporosis, the Brosse bone disease that affects 3.5 million British and ensures that bones become vulnerable and easier to break – and affects women much more than men.

However, the diagnosis did not come from the clinics who treated her hand.

Instead, it was Michelle’s children who encouraged her to insist on a Dexa scan-a specialized bone density test that diagnoses osteoporosis she had seen how quickly she had suffered a second fracture

Without their intervention, Michelle, who lives with husband Jim, 68, believes a retired businessman in Warwickshire that she could not have been diagnosed or until her next, potentially life-threatening, break.

Now 62, she says that she is still stunned that no medicine was diagnosed her earlier – even when a doctor joked, she had succeeded in “really difficult to break bone.”

Michelle’s children added her to insist on a dexa-scan-a specialized bone density test that diagnoses osteoporosis she had seen how quickly she had suffered a second fracture

Michelle is one of the tens of thousands of women in the middle of life and younger-that broken bones and years of pain and frustration have endured before they get a diagnosis and treatment.

The NHS recommends every adult of more than 50 who suffers a ‘vulnerability’ fracture – a break of an immediate height or less – must be assessed on osteoporosis, but this does not happen often.

A report from 2021 by the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) found that many women in the fifties and early 60s are being rejected or incorrectly diagnosed. And the all-party parliamentary group on osteoporosis and bone health reported in 2023 that tens of thousands of women miss timely diagnosis and treatment.

An important reason was to be a bias. Doctors often overlook osteoporosis in younger, postmenopausal women, despite the fact that it is the most likely reason for fragility fractures.

Michelle speaks out as part of the mail on the War on Osteoporosis campaign on Sunday.

We call on the government to ensure that each part of the UK is operated by a specialized clinic, known as a fracture connection service (FLS), to screen patients for the condition after a break.

While FLS units are present in every hospital in Scotland, Wales and Noord -Ireland, only about half of the hospitals in England offer this essential service.

Last year, health secretary Wes Streeting promised that one of his first actions in the government would be the NHS with a ‘roll -out plan’ for national access to FLS units. Only in February did he say that it would be implemented in 2030.

Without the intervention of her children, Michelle, who lives with husband Jim in Warwickshire, believes that she could not have been diagnosed for years

At the age of 62, Michelle says that she is still stunned that no medicine diagnosed her earlier – even when a doctor joked, she had succeeded in breaking a ‘really difficult bone’

Experts warn every month for inactivity to fair access to a FLS brings more lives unnecessary risk.

Broken bones are the fourth main cause of disability and premature death in the UK and the second biggest cause of hospital admissions for adults. Hip fractures, often caused by untreated osteoporosis, claim the life of an estimated 2500 British every year – deaths that campaigners are insisted on that they can largely be prevented.

The condition also affects men, but eight out of ten patients are women as a result of hormonal changes that occur during the menopause that changes bone density.

“My diagnosis was a blur,” Michelle recalls. ‘I knew nothing about osteoporosis and I was absolutely Goobsmacked. I am a sharp walker and gymager – suddenly I felt vulnerable and old.

“But what shocked me more was that my Dexa scan showed that I had also broken my back unconsciously.”

At 54, two years before her kneecap injury, Michelle slid on her stairs and landed on her back.

“That fall must have been blamed for the spine,” she says. ‘I was in pain, but after a few days I just continued as normal, took painkillers and learned to live with it.

“My osteoporosis was repeatedly missed. If there had been a local FLS, it might have been picked up before I broke another bone. ‘

Michelle is one of the tens of thousands of women in the middle of life and younger-that broken bones and years of pain and frustration have endured before they receive a diagnosis and treatment (stock image)

When signs of the condition are seen in FLS, patients receive bone -conserving drugs that halve more than the risk of breaks.

Experts say that the postcode lottery of FLS is endangered people.

In March this newspaper found nine out of ten areas with the highest percentages of more than 65s with hip fractures no FLS in their hospitals.

“Patients are abandoned, it is completely unfair,” says Emma Clark, a professor of clinical musculoskeletal epidemiology at the University of Bristol.

‘They deserve the consistency – their zip code should not determine the treatment they receive. Patients will slide through the cracks.

‘The clinics are not only going to ensure that they get bone -strengthening medicines. They also offer tailor -made diet and lifestyle support. ‘