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Osteopenia3 updates - October2012 October 09, 2012 |
| Hello, Welcome to your Osteopenia Osteoporosis Newsletter. this month I offer 3 short items from new research about bone loss. But before we begin I want to ask 2 favors: First, if you even find you are getting so much mail that you no longer have time to read this newsletter, would you please go to the end of an issue and click on the UNSUBSCRIBE button. There are about 13,000 subscribers but about 2 thousand of those never get opened. (I do not know which subscribers are not opening an issue, only that some are not read.) I'd appreciate it if folks who no longer are reading the newsletter would unsubscribe since I pay for these newsletters - would save money on this end. Second, if you change email addresses, please hit UNSUBSCRIBE button at the end of one newsletter and then go to the osteopenia3.com web site and subscribe from your new address. I CAN NOT DO THIS FOR YOU. I have the newsletter set up so I do not access anyone's email address. (Prevents any accusation of SPAM - which could shut us down) So you need to do it for yourself. I know it is a 'pain' but.....
Broken bones and screeningDespite the high risk for future fractures and the availability of effective treatments, fewer than 10% to 20% of patients who sustain a fragility fracture are tested or treated for osteoporosis. This leave them at high risk for future fractures. .If you or anyone you care about suffers a broken bone (from any cause), please, please request a dexa scan or other measurement of bone density. This is important. Fragility fractures are one of the most common signals of osteoporosis or osteopenia. . I note that I used to make this suggestion to anyone over age 35 but there are an increasing number of young people with serious bone loss - either because of eating disorders, frequent dieting, poor nutrition, side effects of some drug or sedentary life styles. So ANYONE who breaks a bone needs to think about bone density screening. CT scans and bone desnity diagnosisOn another note: It is well known in the medical community that some persons with normal bone density suffer fractures.... and some with low bone density do not. Some researchers are now emphasizing the 'quality of bone" rather than mere quantity and they are looking for better predictive techniques than the dexa scan. Some have suggested CT scans as the solution since CT allow they allow better sense of the quality of bone.. However, Ct scans offer some problematical aspects. CT scans expose you to much more radiation than a dexa scan. ( Excess radiation can lead to cancer. ) Also some people have an allergic reaction to the dye used in a CT scan. Please be sure that you and your health care provider discuss these things before scheduling a CT scan for a bone density test. You may need one but there ARE risks so..... Statins and bone density.There have been some claims that statin drugs (used to lower cholesterol) may be useful in preventing fractures. BUT according to the Harvard Medical School "clinical trials have shown no consistent effect on bone mass or fracture rate. Some researchers think that higher doses than those used to lower blood lipids are required. For now, statins are not an appropriate osteoporosis treatment." .Also, stain drugs carry their own side effect risks (usually discussed by any medical provider prescribing them.)
New and upcomingThe company where I host this web site now provides a number of 'gizmos' to make pages more readable and more interactive. As I add NEW pages, I shall use some of these AND I hope to begin redoing some of the material already on the wwww.osteopenia3.com web site to make is more useful. .Meantime I hope you will keep doing all the 'little things' to increase your bone density. Towards the end of October I begin wearing my weight vest again.....increasing weights by a few ounces each week until Spring. That gets me through lower amounts of winter working in my garden without a drop off in 'stress on my bones." If this approach interests you, do read https://www.osteopenia3.com/Weight-vest.html . Be well, be happy.... Kate
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