The University of Oviedo, in collaboration with the medical company Pfizer, has started a pioneering initiative among the academic institutions to prevent and diagnose osteoporosis. A campaign at the campuses of the university, started on October 21, has offered to more than 1000 workers of the University of Oviedo older than 45 the chance to have a bone densitometry in order to detect possible symptoms of osteoporosis.

Doctor Arturo Canga, Technical Director of the Health System of Labor Risks Prevention and promoter of the campaign, says that "osteoporosis is a silent disease with grave repercussions in many cases. This kind of campaigns are an easy, simple and effective way to detect osteoporosis". In Spain, 5% of women between 50 and 59 years old suffer from osteoporosis, and the number grows up to 42% in osteopenia, a sign of aging characterized by the decrease in the mineral density of bones. "In Asturias, unfortunately, the densitometric map is noticeably below the national average, so there is a low percentage of diagnostics", remarks Doctor Canga.

Although the expected rate of prevalance was of a 20%, preliminary data given by this campaign is showing a rate of 30% among the public workers of the University of Oviedo. The medical team, formed by Doctor Arturo Canga, specialist in Labor Medicine, the Specialist in Labor Nursing Doctor Laura Mallada, and the Delegate of the Rector for Sports and Health, Doctor Miguel del Valle Soto, has shown itself to be very satisfied with the answer and the reception of the campaign by the staff of the university.

The campaign, which started on October 21, has toured the different campuses of the University, such as that of Llamaquique, El Cristo or El Milán, gathering more than 500 participants. It is a pioneering initiative in the field of public workers of the Spanish university. Osteoporosis, which literally means "porous bone", is a metabolic bone disease that causes the density and quality of the bone to deteriorate, so that the risk of fractures is increased. The labor context in which this screening is being conducted is optimal to carry out prevention and health promotion campaigns, since the enterprise can encourage women of a pre-menopausic age to be on the lookout for the disease, so as to prevent it.