Soon, bone strength and quality can be measured.
Posted , 5 users are following.
" Irish scietists have devised a revolutionary new scanning technique that produces extremely high-res 3D images of bones . . . The researchers in Trinity College Dublin said the technique could have major benefits allowing a patient's bone strength to be asssessed in detail. The elderly and athletes will be among those to benefit. . . Current X ray techniques can tell us about the quantity of bone present but give little information about bone quality . . The new scanning technique works by forming agents that are attracted to calcium-rich surfaces, which appear when bones crack, even at micro level. These nanoagents target and highlight the cracks formed in bones, allowing researchers to produce a complete 3D image of the damage . . .Can identify easily those at greatest riskof fracture and institute appropriate therapy".
( The findings have been published in the leading journal ' Chem ' ).
This was printed in one of our daily newspapers this morning . . .
So maybe there IS hope for those of us wondering 'Will I ? Won't I ? take the dreaded medication . . . .
2 likes, 10 replies
Anhaga Juno-Irl-Dub
Posted
kathleen65757 Juno-Irl-Dub
Posted
Much more research needs to be done in regard to this and other aspects of bone health.
Juno-Irl-Dub kathleen65757
Posted
Agreed Kathleen! My specialist always spoke of the difference between bone density vs bone quality and strength. Now, hopefully soon, we may have answers to just why some people fracture and others don't and then we can just treat the former. , , T
kathleen65757 Juno-Irl-Dub
Posted
If you have strong bones and you take fosamax, for example, then that means they are doing harm because fosamax amongst other medications makes the bones brittle.
In future, using this logic, people with strong bones although not dense would not be prescribed biphosphonates or other osteoporosis drugs.
Imagine that, avoiding harm!
Anhaga kathleen65757
Posted
I've had tumbles and bashing myself against hard objects. No bones broken. Not even any serious sprains. Bone which was broken was not as result of a fall but knee joint being twisted sideways when I tried to step into what I thought was a snowbank and it turned out to be solid ice - I had transferred my weight as I stepped, rather than testing as I should, and consequently was injured. No bone displacement, fracture missed by first people to view the x-ray, only caught by an eagle-eyed resident the following day. I do not think this was a fragility fracture and a very short exchange with a rheumatologist at a bones clinic confirmed that feeling, as she said it was an unusual break (I'd thought it was very common but apparently not so) and not one that would be expected from bones affected by osteoporotic thinning. Nevertheless it counts towrds the risk factors when they tell me I have a high risk of fracture within ten years.
kathleen65757 Anhaga
Posted
What are your tscores again? Do you smoke? You do more exercise than I do. Your diet is good. I don't drink only because I don't like beer or wine.
Our age impacts.
High risk has to take into account quite a few factors.
Anhaga kathleen65757
Posted
I don't smoke. I occasionally have a beer or a glass of wine when out for dinner. I'm 69. The only t-score I was given was femoral neck -2. I was not told my spine t-score, when I asked for it was told I didn't need it.
kathleen65757 Anhaga
Posted
You need to know your spine tscores so how dare they stop you having those! Can you at least ask if they were in the osteoporosis range?
Did they infer they wer okay?
I get mine on the day I have it done in the form of a printout handed to me.
Anhaga kathleen65757
Posted
My doctor wrote a letter for me to take to next scan telling them to give me my full report for that day, plus any previous ones. If she was online she'd have been able to get the full report herself, not the virtually useless summary. The three factors are pretty standard: low bone density, previous fracture as an adult and being on long term corticosteroid treatment. No they did not tell me if the spine was or was not in the same range as femur. I have no idea.
Thing about the summary is that this year's will be the same as last year's unless they decide I've moved from "low bone mass" to "osteoporosis" or something majorly changed. So useless really. I know the t-scores aren't the be all and end all, but they're a useful number which can tell you whether you're holding your own, declining or improving. There's really no other way to assess one's progress or decline.
kathleen65757 Anhaga
Posted
So many people I come across have never had a bone density scan and are happily oblivious. Some even assume they are fine because their diet is good. I wonder if I would be better off if I never had the first bone scan but now that I have started the process I need to follow up.