Did you know the age of your bones?

 YOU ARE AS YOUNG AS YOUR BONES

 

A healthy body and a healthy mind needs healthy bones at the care

 

Bone Basics

o   Some people think of bones as hard and life less, but they are actually a living, growing tissue.

o   Bones are made up of 3 major components that make them flexible and strong:

o   70% of all bone mass contains inorganic material (calcium phosphates) & 30% is

o   Of organic material (collagen & Osteocalcin).

o   Bone is a highly dynamic tissue. Remodelling is a continuous process in bones.

o   The remodelling cycle involves bone resorption and bone formation.

 

What is Osteoporosis?

o   Osteoporosis means “porous bone” Healthy bone under a microscope, looks like a honeycomb. If you have Osteoporosis, the holes and spaces in the honey comb are much bigger. This means your bones have lost density or mass have become abnormally weak and are likely to break.

o   Osteoporosis increases the risk of bone fractures, especially in the hips, spine and wrists. Although it can affect anyone, the risk of developing osteoporosis

o   Increases with age, affects women significantly more often than men.

 

Did you know?….

o   Throughout your life, you constantly lose old bone while you make a new bone

o   Progressive bone loss, osteopenia leads to osteoporosis. 

o   Even after children and teens stop growing taller, they continue to make more bone than they lose (their bones continue getting denser) until they reach peak bone mass the point when

o   you have the greatest amount of bone you will ever have.

o   Peak bone mass usually happens between the ages of 18 and 25.

o   Higher the peak bone mass you accumulate, less likely are you to break a bone Or the longer it would be for osteoporosis to set in.

o   As you age, you may slowly start to lose more bone than you form.

o   In midlife, bone loss usually speeds up in both men and women.

o   For most women, bone loss increases after menopause. In fact, 5 to 7 year after menopause, women can lose up to 20% or more of their bone density.

 

What is BMD (Bone Mass Density) & DXA (Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry)?

o   This is the most accurate way to measure BMD. 

o   DXA can measure as little as 2% of bone loss per year. It is fast and uses very low dose of radiation.

o   BMD measurement is painless, non-invasive and involves minimal radiation exposure.

o   Measurements are most commonly made over the lumbar spine and hip joint.

o   The fore arm may be scanned if the hip and lumbar spine is not accessible.

 

Who Should undergo BMD DXA?

o   All men and women who are aged 50 or older.

o   Younger men and women who are at increased risk for broken bones caused by

o   Osteoporosis.

o   Men and women who have raised PTH (Parathyroid Hormone).

o   Men and women who have been taking corticosteroids, such as prednisolone.

 

What are the risks?

o   During a BMD scan, you are exposed to a very low dose of radiation. A BMD

Scan is not recommended for pregnant women. A BMD test does not cause

Pain.

 

How are results interpreted?

o   Results of BMD test are reported as per international society for Clinical

Densitometry (ISCD) format.

 

T- score

o   The average BMD is determined by measuring the bone density of a large

group of healthy 30-year-olds (young adult reference range). BMD values are then reported as a standard deviation from the mean of this reference group.

Z-score

o   Your BMD value may also be compared to that of typical individual of same age group.

o   A negative (-) value means that your bones are weaker (lower bone density) than most people in your age group.

o   Positive (+) value means that your bones are denser and stronger than most people in your age group.

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