Osteoporosis evaluation
Adult bone density, which peaks at age 30, reflects how much bone was laid down during growth, how well it was maintained during early adulthood, and how quickly it is lost with aging. Osteoporosis can have serious effects on your health and well being. Osteoporosis is a common disease with 1.5 million fractures caused by it each year. Less than 10% of women and 1% of men with osteoporosis know they have it.
Risk factors include some things that are obvious, and some things that may surprise you. If you would like to evaluate your personal risk for osteoporosis, please complete the checklist below.
Count each bullet point that applies to you personally.
- Female
- Having a family member or relative with a hip fracture by the age of 50
- Excessive carbonated soft drink consumption (4 or more per day)
- Underweight
- Smoker
- Habitually low calcium intake
- Drinking alcohol (3 or more drinks per day)
- Menopause or surgical removal of the ovaries
- Being inactive (less than 20 minutes of weight-bearing exercise, less than 3 days/week)
- Dementia or Alzheimers disease
- Use of anti-seizure medication
If you have two or more of these risk factors, you should consider getting a DEXA scan screening test to determine how much bone loss you have and to determine if you need therapy to prevent fractures in the future.
Your OrthoVirginia physician can help you figure out the best course of treatment to prevent further bone loss or to keep from losing bone.