The TV and radio star has joined 250 MPs and peers backing the Sunday Express Better Bones campaign urging the Chancellor to fund specialist clinics in his Budget next month.
Pressure is mounting on Jeremy Hunt to stump up £30million for early detection of the devastating brittle-bone condition which affects millions.
And Mariella, 61, said: “If we had proper investment into women’s health, these fracture clinics could be lifesavers. But also as important is preventing people from spending their last years in extreme discomfort, having really poor quality of life.
“All for something that would cost less if the preventative side of it was brought into play a lot sooner. It’s really frustrating.”
The broadcaster, a leading campaigner on the impact of the menopause, along with Davina McCall and Penny Lancaster, became an ambassador for the Royal Osteoporosis Society after seeing her mother-in-law struggle with the fractures caused by the disease.
Health checks she had while looking into menopause symptoms also showed she was likely to develop the condition herself.
Mariella said: “To find out that you’re on the cusp of osteoporosis is quite a shocker when you’re 49, 50 years old.
“My poor mother-in-law, who is an amazing, really fit woman, she’s out there gardening morning and night, but she is forever cracking something.
“It’s a result of the fact women stop producing the oestrogen levels they did before the menopause.
“Unfortunately she’s had to deal with this extremely difficult disability. The Better Bones campaign is supported by more than 250 parliamentarians and still nothing’s been done about the fact half of the NHS trusts don’t have fracture clinics and people end up dying.”
The mother of two, who lives in Somerset, feels now is the time for the Government to commit to ending the damage osteoporosis causes.
She said: “We talk a lot about the NHS and how prevention is the new watchword – but if you’re not checking women’s bone health and there’s no one picking them up when they start breaking bones then that’s not prevention.
“It’s costing the NHS an absolute fortune so it just feels like a total no-brainer.”
Since her diagnosis, Mariella went on to HRT and says scans showed her bone density had improved.
She said: “Something like 25,000 people a year are forced to quit their jobs because they break bones, because of osteoporosis. That’s just bonkers.
“With education and awareness it’s avoidable for many, but because the majority of women who go through the perimenopause don’t have osteoporosis discussed with them, they don’t get checked out.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
