The fracture risk is low to begin with, and research has shown that medication may not reduce it that much. But some doctors are increasingly wary about overmedicating people who have osteopenia. Osteopenia can be treated either with exercise and nutrition or with medications. Some 'uplifting' activity now might prevent frail bones later.įor men, testing is done more on a case-by-case basis. If you aren't in one of these categories yet, don't wait until you are to start doing some weight-bearing exercise. postmenopausal women who have had a fracture.postmenopausal women younger than 65 who have one or more risk factors, which include being thin.

From a societal point of view, is that worth it?Ĭurrently, the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) recommends testing for: Consider this: 750 tests of women between the ages of 50 and 59 would need to be done to prevent just one hip or spine fracture over a five-year period. Should I get a bone mineral density test?Įxperts disagree about who should get their bone mineral density measured because it's not clear that the benefits justify the cost. The percentages for Hispanics (23%) and blacks (19%) are lower, but still sizable. About a third of white and Asian men over age 50 are affected. Women are far more likely to have low bone density than men, but it's no longer viewed as solely a women's condition. If your feet touch the ground during an exercise, it's probably weight bearing. not getting enough weight-bearing exercise (at least 30 minutes on most days).using certain medications, such as corticosteroids and anticonvulsants.not getting enough calcium and vitamin D.But certain choices and habits accelerate the process. The lower the score, the more porous your bone.Įverybody's bones get weaker as they get older. What's your bone density score?Ī T-score ranging from -1 to -2.5 is classified as osteopenia. Regardless of your exact score, if your bone density results fall into the osteopenia category, your doctors will probably schedule you for a bone mineral density test every two to five years. Maureen Connelly, a preventive medicine expert at Harvard Medical School. These distinctions are to some extent arbitrary lines in the sand,' says Dr. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001 reported that a 50-year-old white woman with a T-score of -1 has a 16% chance of fracturing a hip, a 27% chance with a -2 score, and a 33% chance with a -2.5 score.īut there isn't a huge difference between, say, a -2.3 T-score and -2.5, although the former would be labeled osteopenia and the latter, osteoporosis. The measurements, known as T-scores, determine which category - osteopenia, osteoporosis, or normal - a person falls into ( see graphic).įracture risk increases as bone mineral density declines. The main way to determine your bone density is to have a painless, noninvasive test called dual -energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) that measures the mineral content of bone. Osteopenia, which affects about half of Americans over age 50, would fall somewhere in between. If you think of bone mineral density as a slope, normal would be at the top and osteoporosis at the bottom. Both are varying degrees of bone loss, as measured by bone mineral density, a marker for how strong a bone is and the risk that it might break. Like their names suggest, osteopenia and osteoporosis are related diseases.

Bone density test score determines whether you have osteopenia or osteoporosis

Normal hip xray of 67 you women