Landmark Study Aims to Improve Osteoporosis Care Standards Worldwide

Istanbul, Turkey (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Multi-national study will follow 60,000 women for 5 years

Nearly 60,000 women aged 55 years and older have enrolled in a
landmark, multi-national study that will focus on the management of
osteoporosis across the globe. Launch of the Global Longitudinal
Registry of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW) was announced today at ECCEO
8 (Eighth European Congress on Clinical and Economic Aspects of
Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis) in Istanbul, Turkey. This
groundbreaking observational study (registry) in osteoporosis aims to
gain insights to improve the standard of care for postmenopausal
women at risk of osteoporosis.

"We know that there are patients at high risk for osteoporosis,
sometimes already having suffered a broken bone, who aren't getting
diagnosed and treated. We have to figure out why not," said Dr.
Robert Lindsay, GLOW Executive Committee Co-Chair and Chief of
Internal Medicine at Helen Hayes Hospital, West Haverstraw, NY.
"Globally we have an aging female population that wants to maintain
independence and vitality. We can help by finding the key to
improving diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating disease."

GLOW will monitor tens of thousands of older women who have
visited a primary care physician in the past two years. Since patient
recruitment for GLOW is not linked to osteoporosis diagnosis and does
not alter physician practice, the study provides a good
representation of "typical" older women and the bone health care they
receive in the real world. Women are participating from 17 cities in
10 countries on 3 continents.

"We want to understand regional differences in physician and
patient behavior and how that impacts patient outcomes," said
Professor Pierre Delmas, GLOW Executive Committee Co-Chair and
Professor of Medicine and Rheumatology, Université Claude Bernard,
Lyon, France. "Hopefully, armed with that knowledge we will be able
to recommend best practices and improve the management of
osteoporosis worldwide."

GLOW is being conducted by The Center for Outcomes Research
(COR), University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), with the
support of an unrestricted research grant from The Alliance for
Better Bone Health. The Alliance for Better Bone Health is a
collaboration between sanofi-aventis and Procter & Gamble
Pharmaceuticals.

"We are grateful for the commitment of the sponsors and
scientific advisors to the GLOW project. We anticipate that these
data will provide important information to improve the quality of
lives of women at risk for osteoporotic fractures," said Dr. Fred
Anderson, Director of the Center for Outcomes Research and research
professor of surgery and medicine at UMMS. "This pioneering
initiative will be the first comprehensive multi-national look into
the relationship between risk factors, patient outcomes and treatment
patterns for osteoporosis."

Milestone data from GLOW will be communicated on an ongoing basis
at international medical conferences and through peer-reviewed
publications. For more information on GLOW, please visit:
http://www.outcomes.org/glow/

About GLOW

GLOW is a prospective, longitudinal, observational study of women
over 55 years of age who visited a primary care physician during the
two years prior to the study. Women were recruited through 700
primary care physicians in 17 cities in North America, Europe, and
Australia. GLOW will gather information on osteoporosis risk factors,
treatment approaches, patient behavior, and fracture outcomes with an
annual patient survey over a 5 year period.

GLOW study sites are the following:

Lyon, France

Paris, France

Leuven, Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Barcelona, Spain

Essen, Germany

Verona, Italy

Southampton, UK

West Haverstraw, NY USA

Worcester, MA USA

Pittsburgh, PA USA

Seattle, WA USA

Cincinnati, OH USA

Los Angeles, CA USA

Birmingham, AL USA

Hamilton, Ontario Canada

Sydney, Australia

Notes to Editors

Spokespeople available for comment:

Dr. Robert Lindsay

Executive committee co-chair, GLOW

Chief of Internal Medicine at Helen Hayes Hospital, West
Haverstraw, NY

Professor Pierre Delmas

Executive committee co-chair, GLOW

Professor of medicine and rheumatology, Université Claude
Bernard, Lyon, France

About osteoporosis

Osteoporosis-related fragility fractures are an international
public health problem responsible for increased mortality, functional
impairment and added health care costs. Estimates are that between 40
and 50 percent of white women above the age of 50 in North America,
Europe and Australia will incur an osteoporosis-related fracture in
their lifetime. Although their rates are lower, non-white women and
men are also susceptible. Because the likelihood of fragility
fractures increases dramatically with age, fracture numbers are
projected to rise as the population ages.

About the Center for Outcomes Research (COR)

COR is based at the University of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA,
USA. The mission of COR is to collect and evaluate data that reflect
real world practices and outcomes and to provide physicians with
confidential reports that allow comparison of their practices to
evidence based performance standards. For more information, please
visit: http://www.outcomes.org

ots Originaltext: University of Massachusetts
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For further information: Helen Crow, Ketchum, Tel:
+44(0)7787-533-023, Email: helen.crow@ketchum.com; Peter Impey,
Ketchum, Tel: +44(0)7976-734-493, Email: peter.impey@ketchum.com