May is National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month. You may wonder, then, if it’s time to get a bone-density test (aka, bone scan, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, DEXA or DXA scan).
Unless you’ve suffered a fracture in the past, you probably don’t know much about your bone health. You can’t measure it on your own, the way you measure muscle strength by lifting weights, or how well you slept by wearing a biometric ring or bracelet.
The only way to find out what’s going on inside your bones is to look inside them. That requires a bone-density test. When should you get your first one?
At the Rheumatology Center of New Jersey, our experienced and knowledgeable medical providers recommend a DEXA scan on an individual basis. At our offices in Monroe, Flemington, and Somerville, New Jersey, we take into consideration all of your risk factors to determine when a bone-density scan is beneficial for you.
Is it time for your DEXA? Read below.
Most of our patients associate osteoporosis with frail, elderly women who’ve developed a dowager’s hump. But both women and men can get osteoporosis.
In fact, 4.2% of men aged 50 or older have osteoporosis of the femur neck or lumbar spine. About 18.8% of women over age 50 have osteoporosis of the femur neck or lumbar spine.
You’re more likely to have osteoporosis if you’re white or have a slight frame. That goes for both women and men. Aging, though, increases the risk for both sexes of all ethnicities.
Depending on factors such as your ethnicity, body mass, and activity level, you may be at increased risk for fractures due to osteoporosis. Some people are simply born with lower bone density than others, which means that they may need to start getting bone scans earlier.
Once you get your first bone scan, you do more than establish whether you have osteopenia (i.e., lower than normal bone density) or osteoporosis (i.e., medically significant loss of bone mass) or not. You and your doctor get a good sense of where you are now, and whether you’re at increased risk for osteopenia or osteoporosis in the future.
At your next bone scan, we then compare the results to your baseline scan. That can give us a good idea of how quickly you’re losing bone mass and to plan appropriate treatments.
First, a bone-density test is one of the easiest tests imaginable. You don’t even have to remove any clothing. Just be sure not to wear metal jewelry, zippers, or buttons on the areas that will be scanned.
Other than that, you simply lie in place for a few minutes as the technician positions the scanner and takes the X-ray.
Your first bone scan is scheduled based on your personal risk factors. In general, we recommend you get a first DEXA if you:
Even if you don’t have the above risk factors, when osteoporosis runs in your family, you might consider scheduling your first bone scan at age 50.
Once you know what’s going on with your bones, you and your rheumatologist work together to keep them as strong as possible for as long as possible.
Your bone scan provides us with two sets of numbers that helps us understand where you fit in the spectrum of bone health.
The T-score compares the current state of your bones to young, healthy, dense bones. The Z-score compares your bones to other people who match your demographic (i.e., age, sex, height, weight, ethnicity).
If your Z-score deviates much from the average for your demographic, we may need to conduct further tests. Your lower bone density may be related to an underlying medical condition rather than the aging process.
Is it time for your first, baseline bone-density test? Schedule one today by calling our helpful staff. You can also request an appointment online. We serve Monroe, Flemington, and Somerville, New Jersey, and surrounding areas.
