You're a rheumatologist. You are seeing a patient who fractured
her hip during a slip on her icy sidewalk. It's the second time she has
broken a bone due to a fall. Because of this, you recommend bone density testing.
"You
have to have good social skills to do this work," says Dr. Susan Barr. She
is a rheumatologist. "You do many exams on people and can develop long-term
relationships with the patients."
You explain to the patient that you're
concerned about her falls. You want to test her for a condition called osteoporosis.
She says that she knows nothing of the disease. This is what you tell her:
Osteoporosis
is a disease that affects the bones. The bones lose density and become fragile
and break. If this condition is left untreated, bone fractures can result.
The most common bones affected are the hip, spine and wrist.
It's
important to know about osteoporosis because it can be prevented. There are
four ways to prevent this disease. The first way is to eat a diet rich in
calcium and vitamin D. It's recommended that, depending on age, a person
consume between 1,000 and 1,300 mg per day of calcium.
It's
just as important to get enough vitamin D, which aids in calcium absorption.
Vitamin D can be absorbed through the skin when in contact with sunlight,
and can be found in some fortified foods. A person needs an average of 400
to 800 IU of vitamin D per day.
Second, weight-bearing exercise is
necessary to keep up bone density.
Third, a person should lead a healthy
lifestyle. That means limiting alcohol intake and not smoking.
Lastly,
bone density testing can catch osteoporosis early. Some medications can be
used to prevent and treat the disease. Estrogen replacement or hormone replacement
therapy, alendronate, raloxifene and risedronate can all be used to prevent
osteoporosis.
The patient nods her head. She agrees that
she wants her bone density to be tested. But first she has some questions: