Mrs. Patel’s Sari
Commissioned by The City Gallery, Leicester for the touring exhibition ‘adorn, equip’, this sari is made out of pills Mrs Patel takes for osteoporosis and arthritis. She is a 71 year old Indian woman who developed osteoporosis—demineralisation of the bones—when she was only 63. Osteoporosis weakens the bones and is the commonest risk factor for fractures in women under the age of 70. Mrs Patel did not know that she had the condition until her hip joint broke as she was stepping into a bath. She needed an operation to replace the broken hip with an artificial one and was started on medication to prevent her condition from getting worse. There are a number of treatments for osteoporosis including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), calcium and vitamin D tablets.