Osteopenia symptoms

Bone density test score determines whether you have osteopenia or osteoporosis Like their names suggest, osteopenia and osteoporosis are related diseases. Both are varying degrees of bone loss, as measured by bone mineral density, a marker for how strong a bone is and the risk that it might break. If you think of bone mineral density as a slope, normal would be at the top and osteoporosis at the bottom. Osteopenia, which affects about half of Americans over age 50, would fall somewhere in between. Osteopenia and bone density test The main way to determine your bone density is to have a painless, noninvasive test called dual -energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) that measures the mineral content of bone. The measurements, known as T-scores, determine which category — osteopenia, osteoporosis, or normal — a person falls into ( see graphic). Fracture risk increases as bone mineral density declines. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001 reported that a 50-year-old white woman with a T-score of -1 has a 16% chance of fracturing a hip, a 27% chance with a -2 score, and a 33% chance with a -2.5 score. But there isn't a huge difference between, say, a -2.3 T-score and -2.5, although the former would be labeled osteopenia and the latter, osteoporosis. "The label matters less than the number. These distinctions are to some extent arbitrary lines in the sand," says Dr. Maureen Connelly, a preventive medicine expert at Harvard Medical School. Regard...

Osteopenia causes and risk factors Osteopenia can be related to a genetic predisposition to early bone loss. It can also occur due to hormonal factors, such as decreased estrogen levels after Other causes of osteopenia • Certain Gastrointestinal Surgeries • Chronic • Excess Alcohol Consumption • • Heredity • Hormonal Changes • Long-Term Corticosteroid Use • Low Calcium Intake • Malabsorption • Malnutrition • Medications • Radiation Exposure • Thin Frame Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse Alcoholism is a disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law. It can cause myriad health problems, including cirrhosis of the liver, birth defects, heart disease, stroke, psychological problems, and dementia. Counseling and a few medications can be effective for alcoholism treatment. • Anorexia Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion to food. Anorexia is a serious psychological disorder and is a condition that goes well beyond out-of-control dieting. With anorexia, the drive to become thinner is actually secondary to concerns about control and/or fears relating to one's body. There are psychological and behavioral symptoms as well as physical symptoms of anorexia including: depression, social withdrawal, fatigue, food obsession, heart and gastrointestinal complications, kidney function, flaky skin, brittle nails, and tooth loss (...

When you have But it doesn’t have to. A range of treatments and A Healthy Lifestyle If you have strong bones, a healthy lifestyle can help keep them that way. If you already have osteopenia, those same lifestyle choices can lower the chances you’ll get osteoporosis. Make these practices part of your routine: Exercise . Like muscle, bone gets stronger when you use it. The Diet. For strong bones, you need a diet rich in • Dairy products such as yogurt, low-fat milk, and • Green vegetables such as broccoli and collard • Sardines and salmon, with bones • Tofu Your body makes its own • • • Beef • Cheese • Egg yolks • Fortified Don’t smoke, and drink less. If you smoke, try to quit. Studies have shown a strong link between cigarette If you drink alcohol, do it in moderation. That means no more than one drink per day for women and two daily drinks for men. Too much beer, wine, or liquor can mess with the balance of Cut back on salt and caffeine . Both may make your body lose more calcium and bone. Caffeinated Drugs for Osteopenia In some cases, especially if you’ve already broken a bone, your doctor may prescribe medicine to lower your chances for osteoporosis and to prevent more Bisphosphonates. These meds slow your body’s natural process for breaking down bone. You may keep the level of bone you have or even get a small boost of bone density. Bisphosphonates are the main Hormone replacement therapy . Once a popular treatment to prevent bone loss, doctors rarely use it for that ...

Our bones provide the scaffolding that holds our bodies upright. Contrary to popular belief, healthy bones are not solid. Their interiors are made of a honeycomb structure with tiny holes to keep them light and springy. However, bones that have lost a lot of mineral density have much larger holes as well as thin outer walls, which can increase their risk of breaking. So bone density is important. Age and lifestyle can lower bone density and increase risk for conditions such as At Yale Medicine, our endocrinologists specialize in metabolic bone disease. These are conditions caused by deficiencies in minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium or vitamin D or problems with the hormones that regulate our blood minerals. Sometimes metabolic bone disease can be due to problems in the proteins and chemicals that make up the bones themselves. “With our depth of knowledge and reputation as a major referral center, we’ve seen the whole spectrum of cases,” says Karl Insogna, MD, director of the Yale Medicine Bone Center. Low bone density can lead to serious medical conditions that could result in bone fractures. The most worrisome condition is osteoporosis, where low bone density causes holes inside the bone to widen and the outer walls of the bone (the cortex) to thin. This causes the bone to be more fragile. People with osteoporosis are at a much greater risk for fracture with little or no trauma. For example, an older person can get a Osteopenia is similar to osteoporosis but...