% risk of fracture on bone density result
Posted , 6 users are following.
I have not noticed many mentioning this on their bone density scan and wondered what other people's assessed risk is like if they have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. I guess this is all the questions that they ask you about smoking/drinking/if a parent had a fracture etc etc, all fed into a computer and the % risk comes out?
Anyway, I got 2 scores of 3.2 bone density which was a bit of a shock (plus one of osteopenia), along with a 15% risk of fracture within 10 years. How does that compare with others if you want to share? Not had a fracture so far thankfully.
1 like, 29 replies
ANW mermaid62
Posted
I'm 61. I had my first DEXA done in March following a broken wrist. T score was -2.8 with a 12% risk of a fracture in the next 10 years. Then in June I tripped and fractured my ankle! I think for myself the risk factors are being overweight and not fit (plus having over-flexible feet and not being able to get shoes that fit really well). By not fit I mean that my muscles (especially core muscles) are not strong enough and so I have balance issues. My guess is that if I had been 30 kilos lighter, and been exercising regularly, that I wouldn't have fractured anything, because wouldn't have fallen so heavily. I nearly did the same thing again, with the same ankle a few weeks ago, but this time was indoors on soft flooring, and also caught myself before I hit the ground - got off with a sprained ankle instead of a fracture. So I'm not sure how well the % risk of fractures they give you correlate with whether you actually will have a fracture.
mermaid62 ANW
Posted
I wonder if you do have hypermobility in other joints which is not helping re the balance issues? I have never been diagnosed, and only realised about 10 years ago what the problem was. As you say though, exercising does strengthen the muscles aaround joints, and this summer my joints got more stable, maybe from all the gardening I do on a hill, or maybe something else I did!
Good luck anyway with avoiding those fractures from now on. I am being extra careful now.
ANW mermaid62
Posted
Well that's interesting - never heard of such a connection before. Could you include a link or two? When I was about nine, my mum got a thing about yoga and had me and my two sisters practising it. Since then I had always been very flexible until recently when getting fat and lazy I'm more stiff than agile. But can still touch my toes (or rather rest my hands flat on my feet!), although I've stopped since being told not to bend my spine forward. I just thought I was very flexible, but when I had a problem with a bone in one of my feet and saw a physio she checked my feet and said there was too much movement in them. Until then, I had always thought flexibility was a good thing. I have problems with my knees whenever I'm overweight, but that's due to weak thigh muscles - first diagnosed in my teens. I was given exercises but didn't do them! I know for myself losing weight, putting on muscle, and improving my balance is important for the future. I don't want to end up decrepit before I'm 90 (and not even then)! I want to get to a point where I don't have to be extra careful all the time. Positive thinking - totally believe in it
mermaid62 ANW
Posted
Hello again ANW. Sorry for the late reply. Here is the study I found via googling but there may be others. It does sound as if you are hypermobile from your description, although there are levels of it. There is a condition called Ehlers Danlos syndrom which is underdiagnosed, but I don't think I have that, and there are various medical problems related to it. It's to do with problems with the connective tissue.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16311714
I might post this as a separate post later in case someone else might find it useful and not see this post.
ANW mermaid62
Posted
Cheers. I'll have a look at this - thanks for making the effort to find it for me