Men's Osteoporosis Support GroupNPR osteoporosis article and podcast There is an interesting December 21, 2009 NPR story on osteoporosis here. To hear the podcast, click on Listen to the Story, or just read the article below. This explains how -2.5 S.D. from the normal became the new definition of osteoporosis, and how osteopenia became a treatable condition because of this definition and the efforts of one person. Some of this information will be similar to what you've read in "The Myth of Osteoporosis," if you have read that book by Gillian Sanson. She describes and refers to articles which explain that bone mineral density only accounts of a portion of cases of fracture. The problems she describes, and those mentioned in the NPR article, explain why there is more to osteoporosis than simply knowing your dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) results. This is certainly some of the drive behind the push to create the FRAX system to evaluate future fracture risk. FRAX uses several inputs to determine a person's fracture risk as shown in the Calculation Tool. So I recommend you work with your care provider to look at all the known factors for fracture risk when determining if you need to be taking an approved osteoporosis medication, and, if so, which one.
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