Diagnosing Osteoporosis - Get The Picture

By Jeff Foster

Diagnosing osteoporosis is an important health initiative that must be taken seriously since the health cost associated with an inaccurate or a missed diagnosis can be costly in the arena of health consequences for years to come.

When diagnosing osteoporosis it is important to determine if the osteoporosis is of a primary or a secondary nature as the treatment is different for each cause.

Secondary osteoporosis is related to the fact that something else is causing the development of osteoporosis, for example, collagen disorders such as osteogenesis imperfecta, and Marfan's syndrome, bone marrow disorders such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma, or even chronic alcohol use, or endocrine disorders such as, Cushing's disease, diabetes, or a hyperthyroidism.

When diagnosing osteoporosis the best test on the market today is the DEXA scan. This test takes about 10 minutes to perform, is completely painless, and is associated with very limited radiation exposure. The DEXA scan passes the x-rays through the bones of either the hip, the spine or the wrist to assess its density.

The results of the tests are then compared to the normal baseline of the young adult population as well as to the age and gender control groups. The DEXA scan will be able to determine if you are at a higher risk for sustaining a fracture.

DEXA scans are recommended for all women over the age of 65, postmenopausal women under the age of 65 who have multiple risk factors, patients who have endured long-term oral corticosteroid use, and patients with a hyperparathyroidism.

Diagnosing osteoporosis is a fairly simple thing to do for any health care practitioner. It is also a critical piece of your healthcare puzzle.

A complete history and physical along with appropriate bone scans can help your physician to determine if you have osteoporosis.

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Diagnosing Osteoporosis - Solving The Broken Bones Mystery

By Jeff Foster

Osteoporosis can occur when there is a loss of bone density and strength due to a variety of factors.

Osteoporosis may be related to aging, certain types of medications, or other health related conditions. A diagnosis of osteoporosis is often made while diagnosing a fracture.

It is important that osteoporosis is diagnosed early so that accurate and aggressive treatment management can occur in order to reach the best outcome.

Not only the financial cost but the health costs associated with a missed diagnosis of or even an inaccurate diagnosis of osteoporosis can be very high. The health consequences associated with an inaccurate or omitted diagnosis of osteoporosis can be seen for years to come.

When initially diagnosed saying osteoporosis, your physician must make the determination of whether the osteoporosis is a primary or secondary diagnosis. Primary osteoporosis means it that the diagnosis is a stand-alone diagnosis, meaning that there is no other health issue that is causing it.

However, with a secondary diagnosis of osteoporosis this means that there is another health condition which is causing the osteoporosis. Some other health conditions which can lead to a secondary diagnosis of osteoporosis include conditions such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma, diabetes, Cushing’s disease, hyperthyroidism, osteogenesis imperfecta, and even Marfan's syndrome.

The best medical test on today’s market for diagnosing osteoporosis is the DEXA scan. Considered the gold standard by many healthcare providers, the DEXA scan is completely painless for patients and only takes about 10 minutes to perform. The scan uses limited amounts of radiation to scan the bones of the wrist, the spine or the hip to assess general bone density.

This can help your physician to make a definitive diagnosis of osteoporosis as well as help your physician to determine if compared to others in your age and gender control group you have a higher risk of developing an osteoporosis related fracture.

Diagnosing osteoporosis is a fairly straightforward procedure that your general healthcare provider can handle. But even though it is an easy diagnosis to make, it is one that is critical to your overall health.

So as you age and particularly if you are female or if you have other health conditions that put you at risk for osteoporosis, make sure that you work closely with your physician to make sure that you are appropriately screened for osteoporosis.

Diagnosing osteoporosis is one diagnosis that you can’t afford for your healthcare provider to miss.

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Osteoporosis Prevention - Fruits & Veggies Protect You From Osteoporosis

By Robert A. Barnett

Want to bolster your bones? Yes, calcium matters, as does weight-bearing exercise such as walking. But other powerful bone builders are lurking in your local market’s produce aisles. “A high fruit and vegetable intake is associated with improved bone mass,” says Felicia Cosman, M.D., clinical director of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, based in Washington, D.C.

This “produce effect” has been found in population studies in the U.S., England and Japan. It’s true in men and women, in teenagers and octogenarians: People who eat the most fruits and vegetables have the highest bone density. Higher bone density, in turn, is linked to a lower risk of osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease that affects 10 million

Americans, with another 34 million at risk. Older women are particularly vulnerable.

What’s so peachy about produce? Fruits and vegetables are rich in many bone-strengthening nutrients that fight osteoporosis, such as potassium, magnesium, vitamin K and vitamin C. An even more powerful benefit: “They may neutralize some of the acids in the body that lead to a higher rate of bone breakdown,” says Dr. Cosman.

When we digest animal foods, whether it’s a burger or broiled chicken, we produce acid. To counteract the acid, our bodies pull the mineral calcium—which is alkaline—out of our bones and into the bloodstream. Since produce, on the whole, is already alkaline, eating it balances acids and calcium stays in the bones.

To get the optimal benefit, though, you’ll need plenty. “We recommend nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day based on a 2,000 calorie diet, but Americans are getting less than half of that,” says Duke University Medical Center’s Pao-Hwa Lin, Ph.D., a researcher with an ongoing group of studies known as DASH. The so-called DASH diet (known for helping to lower high blood pressure) calls for two or three servings of low-fat dairy and two servings of lean protein and heaping helpings of produce per day. Recent studies show that DASH also helps prevent heart disease, lowers risk factors for type 2 diabetes—and builds bones, helping to prevent osteoporosis.

Can you eat nine a day? It’s easier than you think. A serving is only half a cup of cooked vegetable; pile your plate with a cup and a half of broccoli, and you’ve got three servings. The key, says Lin, is variety: “The next time you go to the market, try something new. I eat about ten different types of vegetables on a regular basis—and all kinds of fruit.”

So eat your fill of tasty fruits and veggies to prevent osteoporosis. Your bones will thank you for it!

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Robert A. Barnett is a writer for MediZine, LLC. Robert A. Barnett is Content Director of HealthyUpdates.com, a health education website produced by MediZine, LLC.

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Osteoporosis - Bone Disease That Silently Robs Your Bones

By Patricia Weber

When you look in the mirror, it doesn’t come into view. Just imagine, you could be twenty, thirty, forty or older and it could afflict you. People who look at you don’t see it. When it does finally surface on the outside for any human eye to see, the harm may be irreversible. The scary part is the external warning of osteoporosis is silent while inside the body is clamoring for help.

Many women rate turning fifty as a positively high experience. I once looked forward to the celebration. The inner peace that comes with this proclaimed turning point is chafed only by my recent diagnosis of osteopenia. Osteopenia is the beginning phase of osteoporosis. Any age is too young for this disease.

My hope of naturally preventing further bone density loss and even reversibility is to not take drugs for the rest of my life. I prefer to walk around straight and stand short at 5 foot 2 inches. Unbelievably my new gynecologist reported my height at one inch less than just a short thirty years ago. My fear is that only a life sentence to some prescription drug will be the answer. Most of my anger is, “I wish I knew then what I know now.” The rest of the anger is of closed and under-educated minds in a medical society that takes the Hippocratic oath.

BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH
For almost 2 years I asked my gynecologist to prescribe a bone density test for me. He tried to appease me by dismissing my concerns of what I was reading. “You're too young; you needn't worry about this.” But, the risk factors in health magazine articles were consistent. Finally he respected my request.

BE HUNGRY TO LEARN
Can you imagine knowing more about the reading of a medical test of this nature than your doctor? It was inconceivable, but true. The results revealed I was in the beginning stages of the precursor to osteoporosis; something called osteopenia. The test results read similar to what I found in the book The Osteoporosis Cure by Harris McIlwain, MD and Debra Fulghum Bruce. My doctor immediately wrote up a prescription for me. It was for a drug with known possible side effects including breast cancer. He was not interested in hearing about my plan for first trying one year of an alternative program to include more exercise, added soy products and increased calcium supplements. The potential, natural approach to prevent and reverse bone density loss lies in a number of year-round daily routines.

AT LEAST DO THE MOST IMPORTANT EXERCISE
Walking is healthy for both the body and the mind. The outside pleasurable venture is a time to soak in sunshine and nature with cooperative weather. The treadmill is a more repetitive, boring journey to a healthy body but it is tolerable. Weight lifting eventually pays off with a lean looking body besides helping the skeleton. Weight bearing exercise, including a suggestion from what one woman with severe osteo told me: when in a standing position, as often as possible, put all your weight on just one foot. Every step or skip or jump you take tells your bones to bring in some calcium from somewhere in your body. For the longest time the added benefit of keeping my bones strong was not high on my intention of the activities. Some things change. For one there are no options now. I hate not having options. Daily exercise, including weight lifting is a necessity.

EAT AND DRINK CALCIUM
Remember when your mom said, “Drink all your milk?” Profound and simple wisdom. Calcium, along with a variety of vitamins and minerals that activate the absorption of the calcium, is part of my daily diet. Calcium on its own is not enough. It needs at a minimum, vitamin D, vitamin K, magnesium and zinc. Those chocolate chews Viactiv™ ease the pill popping dilemma. All this and more, is essential for the building of our bone structure until we are 30. After 30 or so it seems our body finds difficulty in building and even weakens in maintaining calcium. I wish this information and even more was rampant 20 years ago. If you know you can choose life with or without a straight jacket, what would you choose? More than what you probably want to know about all these vitamins and minerals is found in Preventing and Reversing Osteoporosis by Alan R. Gaby, MD.

DON'T DISMISS PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
If drugs didn’t have a part in the creation, why would they need to have anything to do with sustaining? I’ve always held physicians in high esteem for their technical expertise. Sometimes their bedside manner is an added bonus in the relationship. But, what good is having a doctor near your bedside if they can only sing you to sleep by singing loudly and off key in your ears? When you ask questions of your long trusted doctor and he or she says, “Gee I’ve never heard of that,” the discomfort is frightening. Yes, I would rather have more of the questions, yet I’m wanting the doctor to have more of the answers. The thing they tend to do best is rush to hand you a pre-written prescription for some drug. I fired my gynecologist of almost 20 years. I found an internal medicine doctor, who also does the gynecological tests, on recommendation. She is more current in her information, education and cautiousness to prescribe drugs.

I correspond with several women diagnosed with osteoporosis who took the natural way to bone rebuilding. For all 6 or so of them, a year later none, not one, reported that it worked. A drug prescription is now their life sentence. Yet, there is a recent study of women adding 50 high jumps a day into their exercise. The results increased bone density in all ages of women. One year later, on reading about the study again, it turns out you need to wear a weighted vest to achieve better results.

I’ve discovered osteoporosis is the story for millions of women, yet you don’t have to honor the gathering with your presence. What makes me the angriest is its highly probable I could have prevented or at least minimized all this. You can prevent and reverse your skeletal life structure from collapsing when you begin to take charge of your own health and when you begin early in adulthood, age 30 or so. Fear and anger don’t have to make an unexpected visit. If it’s not too late for you, bone-up on the facts! (pun intended) While there’s still time, you may want to make some easy changes.

Copyright© Patricia Weber, http://www.prostrategies.com.

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