Healthcare Campaign Executed Across 10 Countries to Raise Awareness of the Importance of Predicting and Preventing Osteoporosis and Bone Fracture, Particularly in Post-Menopausal Women
Thousand Oaks, Calif. (May 6, 2019) – Amgen, together with local healthcare partners in 10 countries around the world, set on May 5, 2019, a Guinness World Record title for the most osteoporosis screenings for an osteoporosis campaign in 24 hours. To break the existing world record, Amgen set out to screen at least a total of 3,000 people in 10 countries around the world -- to help them understand their risk of having osteoporosis, a medical condition that weakens bones and makes them more likely to fracture. The campaign took place in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
Amgen engaged Guinness World Records, the global authority on record-breaking, to attempt the official record. Official adjudicators from Guinness World Records were on site at the Amgen-sponsored screening events to verify the number of screenings conducted. While Guinness World Records is in the process of verifying the total count, Amgen received this message from Guinness World Records on May 5, at 4:05 p.m. Pacific: “It is official! You have over 3,000 participants across all of the adjudicated locations and have officially achieved a new Guinness World Records title. Congratulations!”
“Amgen is a science-based company, so it was important to us to involve the Guinness World Records organization to endorse the count of osteoporosis screenings that were conducted during our ‘Break Records, Not Bones’ health education campaign,” said Sebastian Sorsaburu, vice president, Medical, for Amgen’s Intercontinental Region. “While it is exciting to have set an official Guinness World Record title, it is even more rewarding to know that we raised awareness of the serious risk of bone fracture associated with osteoporosis, particularly among post-menopausal women.”
Osteoporosis – the Silent Disease
Throughout a woman’s life, estrogen plays an important role in replacing older porous bone with newer dense bone. However, during menopause, her body starts to produce less estrogen.1 Over time this can lead to osteoporosis–a medical condition that weakens your bones and makes them more likely to break.2
Osteoporosis is often called a “silent” disease, because those afflicted can’t see or feel their bone loss. As a result, many people don’t know they have it until they break a bone.3 One out of three women over 50 years old will break a bone due to osteoporosis in her lifetime. 2
“Even when you’re feeling great on the outside, your bones could be telling a different story on the inside,” Sorsaburu said. “If ignored, osteoporosis can jeopardize your ability to do things you love and get around on your own, particularly when bone breaks occur in critical parts of the body, including the hip, pelvis and spine.”
Once a woman breaks a bone due to osteoporosis, she is up to 10-times more likely to break another bone within her lifetime4-8
“Even what seems like a minor fracture, such as one in the wrist, can be a sign of more debilitating fractures to come– like those in the hip or spine,” Sorsaburu added. “It’s not just a fracture, it’s a warning sign. No fracture should be ignored; instead, talk to your doctor about your osteoporosis risk, and how you can take charge of your bone health.”
“At Amgen, we increasingly believe in the predict/prevent paradigm, that is, moving from a system that fixes that which is broken to one where we try to predict who is at risk for disease and then prevent a life-altering event – such as a serious bone-break – in the first place,” Sorsaburu added. “We think it’s the right thing for society, and the right thing for the economic challenges we all face related to our growing healthcare costs.”
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people’s lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be the world’s largest independent biotechnology company, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.
For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/amgen
About Guinness World Records
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (GWR) is the global authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the iconic annual Guinness World Records books have sold over 141 million copies in over 40 languages and in more than 100 countries. Additionally, the Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition, first published in 2007, has sold more than 4 million copies to date.
Guinness World Records’ worldwide television programmes reach over 750 million viewers annually and more than 3.7 million people subscribe to the GWR YouTube channel, which enjoys more than 328 million views per year. The GWR website receives over 20.5 million visitors annually, and we have over 15 million fans on Facebook.
The Guinness World Records commercial sales division provides customized consultancy services for some of the world’s top brands and agencies to help place record breaking at the heart of their marketing campaigns, employee-engagement programmes, and live and experiential events.
CONTACT: Amgen, Mary Klem, mklem@amgen.com, 805-341-0687
Guinness World Records, press@guinnessworldrecords.com
References
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1. National Osteoporosis Foundation. What women need to know. https://www.nof.org/preventing-fractures/general-facts/what-women-need-to-know, Accessed 11/9/2018.
2. International Osteoporosis Foundation. What is osteoporosis? https://www.iofbonehealth.org/what-is-osteoporosis
, Accessed 11/9/2018.
3. National Osteoporosis Foundation, General facts. https://www.nof.org/preventing-fractures/general-facts/
, Accessed 11/9/20188. Colon-Emeric C, Kuchibhatla M, Pieper C, et al. The contribution of hip fracture to risk of subsequent fractures: data from two longitudinal studies. Osteoporos Int. 2003;14:879-83.
4. Colon-Emeric C, Kuchibhatla M, Pieper C, et al. The contribution of hip fracture to risk of subsequent fractures: data from two longitudinal studies. Osteoporos Int. 2003;14:879-83.
5. Ettinger B, Ray GT, Pressman AR, Gluck O. Limb fractures in elderly men as indicators of subsequent fracture risk. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:2741-7.
6. Johnell O, Kanis JA, Oden A, et al. Fracture risk following an osteoporotic fracture. Osteoporos Int. 2004;15:175-9.
7. Klotzbuecher CM, Ross PD, Landsman PB, Abbott TA 3rd, Berger M. Patients with prior fractures have an increased risk of future fractures: a summary of the literature and statistical synthesis. J Bone Miner Res. 2000;15:721-39.
8. Melton LJ 3rd, Atkinson EJ, Cooper C, O’Fallon WM, Riggs BL. Vertebral fractures predict subsequent fractures. Osteoporosis Int. 1999;10:214-21.