Osteoporosis is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in women as a bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviations below peak bone mass (20-year-old healthy female average) as measured by DEXA; the term "established osteoporosis" includes the presence of a fragility fracture (a bone fracture as a result of a fall from standing height or less).

Dr Chris Steele, resident doctor of ITV’s This Morning programme, said: “It is vital that women become more aware of osteoporosis and seek to identify their personal risk. Osteoporosis is a silent disease and virtually impossible to detect without a DXA scan. As a result the first symptom often experienced by sufferers is a fracture. Wider screening would help reduce the burden of this disease and enable women to take control of their own health; without waiting for a fracture to occur. By this stage the condition is far more difficult to manage.

Osteoporosis study now on. Click here for more details.