We offer a bone density study for osteoporosis, using a simple, painless and noninvasive screening  CT of your lumbar spine and hip.  This evaluates your bone density and predicts your risk of a fracture.

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends bone density testing for:

• Women with additional risk factors besides menopause.
• All women over 65-years-of-age.
• Postmenopausal women, who have broken a bone or have one or more risk factors.
• Women who have been on hormone replacement therapy for an extended period of time.
• Women considering osteoporosis therapy for osteoporosis.

At Northwest Radiology Network, board certified radiologists prefer studying your bone density via quantitative computed tomography (QCT) You may have heard of another way to measure bone density, called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).  Here is a comparison.

QCT is more accurate.  QCT is more accurate than either posterior anterior (PA) or lateral DXA in diagnosing osteoporosis.  In addition, studies indicate that QCT is more accurate in obese patients.  QCT is independent of variables such as body height or weight, an is not influenced by spinal degenerative changes that inflate bone density measurements. 

QCT has better precision.  Three-dimensional data set acquired in 30-90 seconds virtually eliminates repositioning errors, the largest source of imprecision in QCT and DXA studies.  It also allows separate analysis  of cortical and trabecular bone, and can be reanalyzed retrospectively if there are change sin vertebral morphology in serial serial studies.  Routine clinical precision for DXA is 1.5-2 percent in the spine and worse in the hip.  Precision for three-dimensional QCT is better than once percent.  Combined with the fact he QCT-measured trabecular bone changes three to fives times faster than total spinal bone, QCT is as good or better than DXA at detecting bone mineral density over the clinically used one-year measuring interval.  Trabecular bone is approximately either times more metabolically active than cortical bone.  QCT, which measures trabecular bone, is therefore highly sensitive to changes in skeletal density.  With better precision, QCT is two to three times more sensitive than DXA in detecting a change in bone mineral density in early post menopausal women. 

Exams results include both a board certified radiologist's interpretation of your bone health as well as a graph print-out, comparing you with others in your age and racial group.

Osteoporosis is known as a silent disease, with approximately 80 percent of patients unaware of their bone loss.  They often discover the disease only when the bone breaks or a vertebra collapses. 

Osteoporosis thins and weakens bones, especially in your hips, spine, and wrists.  The disease can result in severe back pain, fractured bones, poor posture and loss of independence.  One out of every two women and one out of eight men over 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

The National Institutes of Health reports that the one-year mortality rate for hip-fracture patients over the age of 50 is approximately 24 percent.  And among those who survive, nearly a quarter will no longer be able to walk.

Throughout your lifetime, you lose old bone tissue and form new bone tissue.  During childhood and your teen-age years, you add more new bone than you lose old bone tissue.  Your bones then become larger, heavier and more dense.  This continues until age 30.  Then, you begin losing more old bone than forming new bone tissue.  After menopause and through postmenopausal years, you lose the most bone tissue.  You get osteoporosis if you lose bone too quickly or replace bone tissue too slowly.  And you are most likely to get osteoporosis if you did not form enough new bone tissue in you first 20 years of age.

Your physician may recommend calcium supplements, FDA-approved medications and bone density  studies.  To help prevent osteoporosis, eat a balanced diet, right in calcium and vitamin D.  Examples include low-fat milk, cheese, pudding, yogurt and other vitamin D-fortified dairy products; broccoli, carrots, bok choy, soybeans, turnip greens and collards; tofu and nuts; calcium-fortified orange juice, cereals and breakfast bars; canned sardines and salmon with bones; and liver.  As we age, our ability to make vitamin D through our skin decreases.  People who are housebound and are not exposed to  sun light cannot make vitamin D.  Calcium needs increase throughout your life.  Children require 500 mg and older adults need 1,500 mg per day.

Weight-bearing exercise is another way to prevent the disease.  Walking, jogging, racquet sports, hiking dancing, stair climbing and resistance-training are all good.  Another way to prevent problems is not to smoke or be around smoking as well as to limit alcohol intake.

You can keep from getting osteoporosis if bone loss is detected early.  The more times you answer "yes" to the following questionnaire, the greater your risk of developing osteoporosis.