What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a generalized bone disease that reduces the strength of your bones causing them to become brittle and consequently more prone to fractures. Osteoporosis is four times more common in post-menopausal women than in men.

Osteoporosis is usually asymptomatic in the early stage. Symptoms like back pain usually indicate severe disease. You may feel that you are getting shorter and gradually become hunchback. Frequently, a patient realizes that he or she has severe osteoporosis when there is a fracture of the spine or hip after a minor fall.

Who are more likely to suffer from Osteoporosis?
These categories of patients are more likely to suffer from Osteoporosis:

• History of previous spine fracture
• Women above the age of 50 years
• Thin or small build
• Family history of Osteoporosis
• Early menopause (<45 years)
• Smoking
• Inactive lifestyle
• Long term medications especially with steroids and thyroid hormones
• Alcohol abuse
• Inadequate calcium intake

Can we detect Osteoporosis before fracture of the bone?
Bone mineral density (BMD) is an indicator for osteoporosis. This can now be accurately measured and quantified using a DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) machine. DEXA is a specially designed X-ray machine to determine the BMD of the spine, hip and wrist. It uses very little radiation (less than 1/20 of a CXR).

A DEXA scan can diagnose bone loss at an early stage before you suffer from fracture and also assess your fracture risk so that early treatment can be instituted. It can also monitor the progress of your osteoporosis treatment.

How is the DEXA scan performed?
There is no preparation required. A typical DEXA scan is completely painless and only takes 10 minutes to perform. A patient is required to lie on a couch for 5 to 10 minutes and the result will be ready in within half an hour.

Restriction
Patient cannot receive the test if:

• Scheduled less than 5 days after a barium procedure
• Undergoing radioactive iodine thyroid therapy
• Weight is over 2701bs (123kg)
• There exists a possibility of pregnancy for women of child bearing age.

Also see our Health Screening Program