According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF), “Osteoporosis is a disease where decreased bone strength and mass significantly increase the risk of fractures.”

What is Bone Densitometry? It’s a quantitative measurement of the bone’s density. It is quick, non-invasive and accurate. It will determine your risk for both osteoporosis and bone fractures.

• About 54 million Americans have osteoporosis and low bone mass. This increases their odds for suffering from a fracture. Studies suggest 1 in 2 women and up to 1 in 4 men age 50 or older will suffer a bone break due to osteoporosis.
• A woman’s risk of breaking a hip due to osteoporosis is equal to her risk of developing breast, ovarian and uterine cancer combined. 
• A man age 50 or older is more likely to break a bone due to osteoporosis than he is to develop prostate cancer.
• Vertebral fractures are the most common osteoporotic fracture resulting in a loss of height, stooped or hunched posture.
• Hips are the second most common fracture resulting with 20% of seniors dying within one year of the hip fracture due to complications of the break itself or the surgery to repair it.

There are many diseases, conditions, medicines and medical procedures that may affect bone loss. Some of these include:

• Multiple sclerosis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Primary hyperparathyroidism
• Multiple myeloma
• Diabetes
• Low levels of hormones
• Depression
• Chronic kidney disease
• Weight loss
• Prostate cancer
• Breast cancer
• Heparin
• Steroids (glucocorticoids)
• Asthma

A DXA scan can help your doctor determine your risk for osteoporosis and bone fractures. It is the gold standard for screening and diagnosing patients that may need to be treated for osteoporosis. NOF states, “It is more powerful in predicting factures than cholesterol is in predicting a heart attack or blood pressure is in predicting a stroke.” 

DXA scans can also evaluate your body composition when a BMI study is performed. With the use of the Hologic Horizon system, you will receive a graphical report with color mapping to identify fat, lean muscle mass and bone. 

The reports provide detailed information on your body fat percentage, lean muscle percentage, and visceral fat with a comparison against the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database of age, gender and race matched peers. Like the Bone density test it is quick and non-invasive. 

The prep for both exams is to simply wear non-metallic clothing and to not take any calcium pills 24 hours prior to the exam. If you recently had a barium study you should wait 3 weeks before scheduling either of the studies.