Osteoporosis - fixing the problem

A very non-intuitive thought from Australia that on-going testing for bone mineral density can be very misleading ! These are their words - published 24th June 2009.

The test for bone mineral density is not that accurate so a lot of care is needed to assess results.

You might get a misleadingly low result and this might cause the doctor to wonder what's happening:

• are you (as patient) taking the bone medication regularly
• is the medication not working for you and needs to be changed.

The Australian recommendation is not do repeated tests of bone mineral density in the first three years of starting on medication to increase bone mineral density.

Their reason is that bone density medication (such as boniva that I'm taking) is so reliable in increasing bone mineral density that all that is needed is to take the medication exactly as prescribed at exactly the right intervals.

Earlier this year a survey was published on how women reacted an osteoporosis diagnosis.

Read the survey (the survey uses the abbreviation PMO to mean Post-Menopausal Osteoporosis).

About half the people questioned were not sure about their bone mineral density numbers and around a quarter admitted to not taking their osteoporosis medication regularly. Some people have argued that the regular bone mineral density tests should show up not taking medication regularly but the Australian paper shows that this is not true. Careful questioning by a doctor is better, faster and cheaper.

The survey was commissioned by Know my Bones Foundation.