Osteopenia????

[salsabike]

Glad you posted that, Catriona. I read it when it came out, and was told much the same thing by some very good NPs and docs I know (who basically said, "'Ostopenia' isn't really a thing at all"). Osteoporosis, yes. Osteopenia--questionable and doesn't necessarily lead to osteoporosis.

I would seek out multiple credible sources of info before making any decisions about reacting to an "osteopenia" label.

[OakLeaf]

I agree 100%...

BUT, in Clock's case, the fact that a gentle fall like that resulted in vertebral fractures would be diagnostic of osteoporosis, I'm almost sure.

No doubt the enforced inactivity and steroids on account of the lung problems contributed greatly to that.

Plenty of sun, plenty of impact exercise, reducing dietary phosphorus and acid-forming foods, ensuring that protein intake doesn't greatly exceed the needs of the muscles, supplementing with magnesium and calcium to keep up with heavy sweating in hot weather. You betcha.

[Crankin]

Yes, and I did progress from osteopenia to osteoporosis. It seems kind of logical to me; I didn't read the posted article, but if my Dexa scan showed thinning bones twelve years ago and they called it osteopenia and then every two years when it was checked, it got worse, despite doing all of the things stated above, then I don't think it was fake. Both my grandmother and mother had it and I have a lot of the other risk factors. Taking Prednisone on and off in my thirties for asthma didn't help. And now I have learned that some of the things I've taken for stomach issues also can affect absorption of calcium.
I like to think that some of impact exercise I've done has made it less worse than it might have been and maybe protected me from fractures in some of my crashes.
I am extra cautious when riding because of this, but that is also part of my basic personality. But, I can't let it run my life. That's why I finally decided to try Reclast; something has to work. I am famous for being allergic to or not having results from many medications.
Maybe the Jewish mother worrywort gene in me makes me believe that this isn't fake.

[salsabike]

I agree 100%...

BUT, in Clock's case, the fact that a gentle fall like that resulted in vertebral fractures would be diagnostic of osteoporosis, I'm almost sure.

Yes, and I did progress from osteopenia to osteoporosis. It seems kind of logical to me; I didn't read the posted article, but if my Dexa scan showed thinning bones twelve years ago and they called it osteopenia and then every two years when it was checked, it got worse, despite doing all of the things stated above, then I don't think it was fake.

Yes, no argument there at all.

[Cataboo]

It's all relative - the majority of women will end up with osteoporosis - stats from wikipedia:
Osteoporosis is a major public health threat which afflicts 55% of Americans aged 50 and above. Of these, approximately 80% are women.[90] It is estimated[citation needed] that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 12 men over the age of 50 worldwide have osteoporosis. It is responsible for millions of fractures annually, mostly involving the lumbar vertebrae, hip, and wrist. Fragility fractures of ribs are also common in men.

The only problem I have with osteopenia is that I don't think there's quite the data there to support everything that's being done - the definition of who has it vs. who doesn't, the data on what's normal bone loss over the years, since all women over 30 have thinning bones - vs. what's accelerated and will lead to osteoporosis. And the small machines they're using to diagnosis it checking peripheral bones instead of bone or hip...

So definitely, if someone's already broken bones - be concerned. If you have a family history of osteoporosis and they say osteopenia, be concerned... but if you don't have either of those, I'd say be concerned with a grain of salt, and up your calcium and weight bearing exercise - but I wouldn't necessarily start taking drugs for it until there's some more long term followup data and studies to support it. But - that's always a personal decision that everyone needs to research and decide on their own what's best for their bodies.

[Zen]

Cliff's notes on article #1-

"Ultimately it was just a matter of, 'Well ... it has to be drawn somewhere,' " Tosteson says. "And as I recall, it was very hot in the meeting room, and people were in shirt sleeves and, you know, it was time to kind of move on, if you will. And, I can't quite frankly remember who it was who stood up and drew the picture and said, 'Well, let's just do this.' "

So there in the hotel room someone literally stood up, drew a line through a graph depicting diminishing bone density and decreed: Every woman on one side of this line has a disease.

Then a new question arose: How do you categorize the women who are just on the other side of that line?"

[Dianyla]

So there in the hotel room someone literally stood up, drew a line through a graph depicting diminishing bone density and decreed: Every woman on one side of this line has a disease.

Then a new question arose: How do you categorize the women who are just on the other side of that line? [/COLOR]

The women just on this side of the line would have what's called a "subclinical" condition. Possibly/probably experiencing problems already but not meeting the official criteria for clinical diagnosis. A good doctor should be willing to treat subclinical patients.