Musselburgh-based Queen Margaret University (QMU) is to hold a symposium on osteoporosis to raise awareness of the condition.

The event, which will be held on World Osteoporosis Day on Friday, will be led by specialist researchers and healthcare professionals who have spent years researching the condition with the university’s Lydia Plus Osteoporosis Project.

With leading healthcare professionals from the UK and Australia contributing to the event, the symposium not only aims to focus on bone health and prevention of falls, it will call for osteoporosis to be viewed as a public health priority.

Osteoporosis is a common bone disease that weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break.

It affects more than three million people in the UK, including 250,000 in Scotland, and accounts for about 527,000 fractures per year in the UK.

Dr Karen Matthews, who leads QMU’s Lydia Plus Osteoporosis Project, said: “There is a high prevalence of osteoporosis amongst the Scottish population. This is a preventable condition and, for those living with osteoporosis, it could be managed better with improved awareness and simple lifestyle changes.

“Both health professionals and the public could be better informed about ways to prevent the development of the disease through changes in their activity and choosing to eat a balanced bone healthy diet.

“For this reason, the focus of the symposium is on awareness raising and ways of achieving good bone health.

“The event will be as interactive as possible, with experts from a range of disciplines sharing their knowledge on topics such as pregnancy-associated osteoporosis, hip fractures and falls prevention. There will also be dancing and cooking demonstrations to make this a fun, active and stimulating experience.”

To find out more about the symposium, visit qmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/events-listing/lydia-plus-symposium