Homepoint.com helps raise awareness of Osteoporosis –

Furniture World Magazine

The calendar may say it's the "fall" season, but a new educational campaign has been developed to help keep people with osteoporosis on their feet. The goal of the campaign -- "Lights On for Osteoporosis: Don't Be in the Dark about Fall Safety" -- is to raise awareness for osteoporosis and educate women with this disease and their loved ones about the importance of reducing the risk of falls that can lead to costly, debilitating and sometimes life-threatening fractures. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, makers of Miacalcinâ (calcitonin-salmon) Nasal Spray, a treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis, and HomePoint.com, the leading online home furnishings supersite, have joined forces with Emmy Award-winning TV personality Linda Dano to launch this important effort. Four percent of the proceeds from the online sale of all lighting fixtures via HomePoint.com's web site through December 15 will be donated to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). Proper lighting throughout the home - especially on bedside tables, in halls and along stairs - is an integral part of any fall-proofing plan. "My mother lives with us and because she has osteoporosis, we've taken some important steps to fall-proof our home," says Ms. Dano. She's encouraging women at risk for osteoporosis to talk to their doctors about the disease and learn how to reduce their risk of falling in the home. Lighting fixtures and free educational materials about osteoporosis and fall prevention may be ordered by logging onto www.homepoint.com. Visitors to the HomePoint.com web site will also find a Fall Safety Questionnaire to help them assess their home environment. The free educational materials are also available by calling 1-800-800-7578. Sandra Raymond, Executive Director of the NOF, hopes the effort motivates people with osteoporosis to pay closer attention to their living areas. "Fall prevention is critical for those who have osteoporosis because thin bones are very fragile and easily broken," says Raymond. "I am delighted that Novartis and HomePoint.com are dedicating their energies to highlight such an important safety issue for those coping with osteoporosis."