DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT

HOW IS OSTEOPOROSIS DIAGNOSED?

Your doctor will discuss your medical history, signs, symptoms and family history. If osteoporosis is suspected a specialised x-ray to measure bone density is usually recommended. The main test for diagnosing osteoporosis is called a DXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan. It is a type of X-ray that measures the density of bone.Scans are normally carried out in women over the age of 65, men over the age of 70, and postmenopausal women under the age of 65 who have other risk factors for the disease.A DXA scan is usually taken of the spine and hips and is the best way to predict your risk of fracture as it measures the calcium content of bone, but it doesn’t directly measure the strength of the bone.

Did you know?

28% of women and 37% of men who suffer a hip fracture will die within one year.

TREATMENT

Before your doctor prescribes medication for osteoporosis, he or she will try and reverse the risk factors. For example, if you smoke you should quit and if you drink heavily you should stop drinking.You should also take plenty of weight bearing exercise, which is exercise during which you put your foot to the ground, such as walking as opposed to swimming or cycling.As well as attempting to cut out risk factors, you will be advised to maximise your dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, which are essential for bone health.Postmenopausal women and men over 50 should be eating 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day. To guide you, a glass of milk contains 300 mg of calcium as does a matchbox size piece of cheese. A standard portion of yogurt contains between 250 and 300 mg of calcium.

MEDICATION

There is a reasonable choice of drugs at the moment to treat osteoporosis and these are broken down into two types; those that effectively stop the breakdown of bone, and those that can build and reduce bone breakdown at the same time.The drugs which stop the breakdown of bone are called bisphosphonates, which come in oral and injectable forms. Other drugs which help stimulate the production of bone are called anabolic agents. One of these can be given orally, and another by a self-administered injection once a day for two years.However the first line treatment for most patients is correcting the calcium intake through diet and possibly a calcium supplement, and the use of an oral bisphosphonate.

10 facts about your bones and osteoporosis

Bone is living, growing tissue that is both flexible and strong.
Throughout life, you are constantly losing old bone and forming new bone.
Osteoporosis happens when you lose too much bone, make too little of it or both.
Bone loss usually speeds up at midlife in both men and women.
If your mother or father broke bones as an adult, you may be at risk for osteoporosis.
Women lose up to 20 percent of their bone density in the five-to-seven years after menopause.
People with osteoporosis cannot feel their bones getting weaker, and many people do not know they have osteoporosis until they break a bone.
People with osteoporosis most often break a bone in the hip, spine or wrist.
Bones break more easily in people with osteoporosis, sometimes from simple actions such as sneezing, hugging or bumping into furniture.
Find out if you have osteoporosis before you break a bone. Ask your doctor when you should have a bone density test.