Osteoporosis

Diagnosis
Osteoporosis often has no symptoms however loss in height of more than 1.5” or curvature of your spine with or without pain can be indicative of the disease. The most commonly used test to assess bone mineral density and your risk for osteoporosis is the  dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan of the hip and lumbar spine. It is a painless test performed fully clothed and takes about 15 minutes. Women whose bone density test shows T-scores of -2.5 or lower, such as -3.3, have osteoporosis and should consider therapy to reduce their risk of fracture.  A T-score between -1.1 and -2.4 is indicative of osteopenia and steps should be taken to prevent osteoporosis.