'My bones are like glass': Why Bond Girl Ursula Andress blames herself for becoming ravaged by osteoporosis



As a Bond girl, she became an iconic beauty. But as Ursula Andress reveals for the first time, she's now ravaged by osteoporosis which could leave her crippled. What's more, she admits it's all her own fault...



To many, Ursula Andress is the ultimate Bond girl - the shot of her emerging from the sea in a white bikini in Dr No has become an iconic image.



Now aged 72, she is still beautiful and her figure remains trim. For despite a passion for good food, she still regularly skis, swims and thinks nothing of walking miles each day.

But she doesn't know how much longer this will be possible. For the past eight years Ursula has suffered from osteoporosis.

Iconic: Ursula Andress emerges from the sea in the 1962 film Dr No. But she has now revealed that she has become ravaged by osteoporosis



For a long time she refused to acknowledge the severity of her condition and didn't take any preventative action, not realising the risks.

Fragile



Then she discovered her hips are so fragile they could easily break - news that has come as a huge shock.

'I don't want to become a crippled old lady, bent double, who can only shuffle along. There would be no point for me,' she says, talking for the first time about her condition.

'If I cannot be active, I would rather die. I could not cope without full mobility. My life would be over.

'My doctor told me that I had to take medication to save my way of life. I find it so strange because I had no pain, no warning. But that is the nature of the disease.



'You carry on as normal and you don't realise that your bone is becoming like glass.'

Ursula played the role of Honey Ryder alongside Sean Connery who played Bond

Osteoporosis is an increasingly common condition that affects three million people in Britain: one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 develop the disease.

After the age of 35, we all naturally lose some bone strength as old bone is lost faster than new bone is made.

However, in someone with osteoporosis this process is speeded up, so the bones become critically brittle - women are particularly vulnerable after the menopause because they have lower levels of bone-protecting oestrogen.

A serious condition

While most common in the over-50s, osteoporosis can also affect much younger people.

Often the disease progresses silently, with no symptoms, until a bone breaks or fractures.

Even the impact of a sneeze may be enough to break a rib in the later stages of the disease. Some sufferers become stooped as minor fractures in the spine make it unable to support their body weight. Patients can live in severe pain for years.

Ursula partying in London in 2004



In many cases, fractures are life-threatening: one in five women who fracture their hip as a result of osteoporosis die within six months.

The problem is that many women with the condition are going undiagnosed. And even in those cases that are detected, many, like Ursula, don't take their medication - with serious results.

Ursula was unaware of how serious the disease could be when it was detected during a routine health check eight years ago.

A scan revealed the bones in her hips were showing early signs of weakening, but she disregarded the diagnosis. As she says, she wasn't an obvious candidate for osteoporosis, being physically fit and eating calcium-rich foods.

'I have always been sporty and done lots of exercise,' says Ursula, who has one son Dimitri, 28, from her relationship with actor Harry Hamlin.

'I have never smoked, I've always eaten well, including dairy, and drink wine only with a meal. And while my mother had a hip replacement, she didn't fracture a hip to my knowledge and she lived to be 96.

'True, I was post-menopausal, but otherwise had none of the risk factors. I didn't think someone like me - a former Bond girl who from 7am until late is go, go, go, who eats well and walks miles every day - would get this disease.

'Foolishly, I refused to take the diagnosis seriously. The doctor told me to take a daily pill to help stop my bones from getting any weaker and to take calcium to help keep the bones strong.

'But I am the world's worst pill-taker and always have been. About four years ago, I was in India and caught pneumonia. I pleaded with the doctor to give me the shortest dose of antibiotics possible because I knew otherwise I wouldn't finish the course.

'With the osteoporosis pills, I would think: "I will take it later" - and it would get later and later, and days passed without me taking the medication.

'Within a few months I gave up altogether and just took calcium when I remembered. I thought I would be fine, especially as I had no pain and was still swimming and walking miles every day, which I thought would keep my bones strong.

'Besides, by drinking a bit more milk and eating a bit more cheese I thought my bones would improve.

'I was totally wrong. By not taking my medication I have put myself at great risk.'

Wake-up call



Earlier this year, Ursula had her first full medical since her diagnosis and was horrified by what the doctors had told her. A scan found that her bones had deteriorated greatly.

'The doctor told me that unless I took my medicine, I would definitely fracture my hip within the next few years,' she says. 'Even a stumble would be enough for this to happen.

'It was a total wake-up call for me. I've always been so healthy, and the idea that just going about my day-to-day life could put me at risk was a real shock.

'Bones don't heal themselves with a sticking plaster; this was serious. That scared me a lot.

Arriving at her 70th birthday party in May 2006 in Scotland. The Swiss actress says she would rather die if her condition stopped her from being active



'I am passionate about life and the things I love, such as my garden at my home in Italy, tending to my animals and seeing my friends. It would devastate me if I could not enjoy those things because my body had let me down.

'I would also feel so embarrassed if I had to become dependent on anyone to help me with day-today life. I adore my son and he is good to me, but I would hate to become reliant on him. It made me realise I had to take this condition seriously and start taking medication.'

Treatment



The most common treatment for osteoporosis is bisphosphonates - drugs that slow down the rate at which old bone is absorbed and help the cells that make new bone work more efficiently.

These are normally taken as a daily, weekly or monthly pill. But to be effective, the medication does need to be taken regularly and at specific times of the day - generally an hour before food, which can become problematic, says Professor David Reed, chairman of the National Osteoporosis Society.



Indeed, there are many women like Ursula who neglect to take their medication. A recent survey found that 70 per cent didn't take it regularly - almost half of them deliberately because of the fear of side-effects such as irritation to the gut or because they were confused by the instructions.

The good news is that generally, it is never too late for properly taken medication to make a difference.

'You're not going to be able to get the bones back to the way they used to be, but you can retain their strength and stop them from getting worse,' says Prof. Reed.

Because of her blind spot in regards to pill-taking, Ursula and her doctor have agreed she can have a once-a-year treatment.

An X-ray of a femur thigh bone diseased with osteoporosis, indicated by the blue and pink colouring (file picture)

Zoledronic acid, a form of bisphosphonate, is given during an annual 15-minute infusion. Studies have found that it can reduce the risk of a hip fracture by more than 40 per cent and a spinal fracture by more than 70 per cent.

Although available in Britain, it's more expensive than other treatments and is generally given only to those for whom other medications have not worked or who've had side-effects.

'People should discuss with their doctor if they do not think they are on the right medication,' says Professor Reed. 'Generally, they will be started on the cheapest, which might not be the right drug for them.'

Ursula is so alarmed by the dangers that she is speaking about her condition as part of The Timeless Women campaign.



The aim is to challenge the assumption that osteoporosis is a disease suffered by old ladies and to encourage women of all ages to consider their bone health before it's too late.

'The problem is that there is a lack of awareness among some GPs and members of the public about osteoporosis,' says Professor Reed. 'They don't think about the health of the bones until a fracture has occurred.'

The earlier the disease can be caught the better, as medication can reduce the risk of a fracture by as much as 70 per cent.

The World Health Organisation has introduced a questionnaire called the Frax system which GPs can use to assess the risk of fracturing a bone due to osteoporosis. However, it is not yet mandatory.



It's estimated that without changes to the diagnostic system, the number of fractures caused by osteoporosis will double in 50 years.

'I think it's strange that women get told to have a mammogram regularly to check their breasts for cancer, but are not urged to get their bones checked for osteoporosis,' says Ursula.

'Tragically, many people break bones and are then bed-ridden for a long time because they did not know they had the disease.

'I refuse to become a prisoner of my condition and I urge other women to do the same.

'Getting older brings lot of strange surprises. It affects your body in ways you don't expect.

'I have a dog who is getting old and he is losing his hearing, his sight and his capacity for thinking straight. I think this will be me, too, one day, but at least I hope my bones will be OK.'

• National Osteoporosis Society helpline: 0845 450 0230, www.nos.org.uk