RALEIGH, N.C. – Brenda Davis, President of American Bone Health’s Board of Directors, was chosen as one of the faces of the International Osteoporosis Foundation’s “That’s Osteoporosis” campaign leading up to World Osteoporosis Day 2019, which takes place Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019. Davis’ image and story are being featured in the IOF’s World Osteoporosis Day campaign materials to raise awareness worldwide about the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. The goal of World Osteoporosis Day is to make bone health a global health priority by reaching out to health-care professionals, the media, policy makers, patients, and the public at large.
This year’s World Osteoporosis Day campaign theme, “That’s Osteoporosis,”
“American Bone Health is proud to be a partner organization supporting the International Osteoporosis Foundation’s observance of World Osteoporosis Day on Oct. 20,” said Kathleen Cody, Executive Director of nonprofit American Bone Health. “We are also delighted that our board president, Brenda Davis, is being featured as one of the faces of the ‘That’s Osteoporosis’ campaign. We know that osteoporosis and fractures have devastating impacts on so many people around the world, but Brenda serves as an example that an osteoporosis diagnosis doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Brenda has been able to maintain a high quality of life with help from a healthy diet and regular exercise along with following the treatment plans prescribed by her doctors.”
Davis, 78, is a retired educator and corporate instructional consultant who lives in Danville, Calif. An elite-level competitive swimmer in her youth, she was diagnosed with osteopenia, or low bone mass, when she was 60. Then she was diagnosed with osteoporosis after undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer. She attributes her intensive training regimen in her youth to disrupting the hormonal processes that build healthy bones for life. She now has a special interest in bone growth among adolescent athletes.
“One of the keys is early diagnosis, I think,” Davis says. “I believe it would be ideal if women in their early 30s could have a baseline bone density test, which would give doctors something to compare to later as they go through menopause.”
Learn more about World Osteoporosis Day at https://www.worldosteoporosisday.org/. Find educational materials and resources at https://www.worldosteoporosisday.org/resources.
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