About Tracey...

Tracey's interest in osteoporosis is a family affair as unfortunately, both her grandmother and mother suffer from the disease. For this reason, many of the modules Tracey took in order to pass her Master's degree focused upon osteoporosis, including a case study of an osteoporotic woman for a module entitled "Exercise, Nutrition and Ageing", and a critical appraisal of three scientific papers looking at the effects of resistance exercise on bone mineral density for her "Exercise and Health" module.

During her Master's degree, Tracey also completed a 12-week study on the effects of resistance exercise upon bone density in post-menopausal women. For her study, Tracey used a quantitative ultrasound scan (also known as QUS) to monitor the changes in bone density of the volunteers: the same machine that we use during our bone density testing days.

Tracey has eight years' experience in the health and fitness industry. Prior to her involvement with bonematters, she was the 'health 4 work' consultant for the University of Chester. She has also written her own scientifically based information booklet, "Osteoporosis - the silent killer", which is in general circulation at the University. She regularly gives exercise, nutrition and lifestyle advice to those concerned about osteoporosis and its effects.

Tracey: "A number of studies, including the one I conducted for my Master's degree, have demonstrated that the correct exercise reduces risk of osteoporosis and fracture risk in later life. People who come to us know that our knowledge is up to date, as we are continually learning new things through our reading and research. Finally, osteoporosis has severely affected my family. I am very passionate about helping people to prevent this disease."

About Isobel...

Isobel also completed her Master's degree at the University of Chester. During the course, she passed a number of modules relevant to the prevention of osteoporosis and fracture, including "Exercise, nutrition and ageing," and "Recognition and assessment of nutritional disease." She is interested in the effects of crash dieting, caffeine, and animal protein upon bone density. Isobel also assisted with Tracey's Master's degree - Tracey had so many volunteers for her study Isobel helped her to collect the data by screening half of the participants!

Isobel has twelve years' experience in the health and fitness industry. Prior to becoming self employed, she worked as a well-being specialist at the 'life' centre, MBNA Europe Bank, Chester (now Bank of America). During her time at the 'life' centre, she designed and wrote scientifically based information handouts about osteoporosis prevention for the bank's employees. She also gave exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle advice to sufferers of mild osteoporosis. 

Isobel: "One of the reasons that we offer this bone density screening service is to encourage osteoporosis preventive behaviour. If you have an appointment with us, we will take time to explain the results of your test to you. Once we have done this, we then suggest dietary, exercise and lifestyle interventions to help you postpone or even prevent osteoporosis. Even if you have low bone density, we can still make important exercise suggestions that will reduce your risk of fracture. It takes quite a lot of effort for most people to make changes to their lifestyle - in order to make the effort, you need to be motivated - in other words, you need a good reason! This is why we give the advice about reducing the risk of fracture immediately after you have been given the result of the bone density scan. You are far more likely to follow our suggestions after hearing about your result, as the suggestions will seem much more applicable to you. Your attention to this important subject will be increased. The earlier you start to look after the strength of your bones, the better."

Tracey and Isobel are professional members of the National Osteoporosis Society and Fitness Professionals. They keep their knowledge up to date with a regular subscription to Osteoporosis International and Osteoporosis Review.

Where have we tested?

Over twenty universities, including the University of Warwick, The University of Manchester, The University of Liverpool, The University of Bristol, and Keele University. When we work at universities, we hold the days for the staff that work there,  and we usually work through the university's sports centre or fitness facilities. We have worked at over 90 different Curves facilities, and over 40 different Gymophobics. We have also tested in private and council run health clubs, other private fitness centres and gyms, and workplaces, including multinational corporations (Barclays Bank Radbroke Hall, Unilever Port Sunlight, and Bank of America, Chester). We also hold testing days at schools and colleges.