§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department is supporting into the treatment of osteoporosis. [51959]
§ Ms JowellThe Medical Research Council (MRC) is the main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body which receives its grant-in-aid from the Department of Trade and Industry. The total value of current MRC grants for research related to osteoporosis is £5.6 million. Work being carried out at the MRC's own establishments includes
a study currently being undertaken by the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit entitled Micronutrient research: role of calcium and other factors in the development of peak bone mass and osteoporosis. The MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit is undertaking a study into Risk Factors for cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and cognitive decline in people born in the Jessop Hospital;the Department of Health/MRC Nutrition Programme (Phase II) is undertaking three studies linked to osteoporosis and diet. These are Dietary and other determinants of bone health and fracture in men and women, Assessment of nutritional, physical activity and genetic factors influencing perimenopausal bone health, and Interventions to maximise bone mineralisation in adolescents: benefits of calcium and exercise for 16–18 year olds.Announced by the MRC in October 1996, the Women's International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause (WISDOM) will be co-ordinated in the United Kingdom by researchers at the MRC Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit, London. One of the main objectives of WISDOM is to establish how hormone replacement therapy (HRT) affects the incidence of bone fractures caused by osteoporosis.
The Department's Policy Research Programme (PRP) recently completed funding of a study entitled HRT in the menopause: a cost-effective analysis. The research was undertaken at the University of Oxford.
The National Health Service research and development programme's Standing Group on Health Technologies has identified research proposals for osteoporosis as a priority area and two projects have been commissioned: one on the treatment of established osteoporosis and the other on evaluation of methods for identifying and monitoring the treatment of osteoporosis.
There are also other projects being undertaken on a regional basis.
§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the health authorities in(a) Staffordshire and (b) the West Midlands which have an osteoporosis strategy in place; [51958]
(2) if he will estimate for the last year for which figures are available, how many NHS patients suffered from osteoporosis, the number of fractures attributable to 96W osteoporosis and the number of beds being used for osteoporitic fractures in (a) Staffordshire and (b) the West Midlands. [51960]
§ Ms JowellInformation on individual health authority strategies is not collected centrally. Data on neither the number of beds being used for osteoporosis nor all fractures specifically attributable to the condition are available. Specific numbers of sufferers are not available, but the table lists finished consultant episodes with a diagnosis of osteoporosis for National Health Service trusts in Staffordshire and the West Midlands region.
Staffordshire West Midlands Number of first FCEs with diagnosis of osteoporosis (ICD10 M80-M82) 161 1,204 Number of first FCEs with diagnosis of osteoporosis with pathological fracture (ICD10 M80) 53 309 Source:
WMRO Regional Information System 1996–97