Thursday, January 8, 2015

Bone Density Treadmill

     Today I had my bone density measured. That's the end of the story. The beginning of the story is a long time ago.

     The beginning of the story of bone density loss probably started in my mid twenties according to some study or other. Loss of bone density slowly went on in my body until a crisis occurred and then it was found that my bone density was almost in the osteoporosis category.

   Usually osteoporosis is considered a female condition. No doubt about it. Men have osteoporosis too. Males just have more bone density so more to lose. If osteoporosis affects men it's usually later on in life.

    There are a number of conditions that contribute to loss of bone density. One would be a poor diet. Another  is lack of weight bearing exercise. And a third common cause is smoking. There are more conditions that contribute to bone loss. 

    The crisis that brought my low bone density to light were two broken bones. I broke my right wrist in 1991. The bone was broken into 7 pieces. Magic and skill put the wrist together and I have full usage with no after effects. I 2002 I broke my right wrist again. This time it wasn't as serious a break. This time I said to my doc, "Should I have my bone density checked?"

    "Yes ," he said, "You should get it tested." His story was that women break hips and men break wrists???

    So my Doc put me on actonel and a bone density test every two years.  The first two tests showed some increase of bone density. Now there is little change. I have had some serious tumbles and have not broken anything. I had a nasty bike incident where I went head over heels and although I had injuries, I had no broken bones. I fell down stairs last year and lived to blog about it. 

   My point is that we get put on testing schedule and it goes on for years. My bone density has not changed. But, they keep saying they want to monitor it. I feel like telling them to go and find some wet paint to watch. 

    However, I will keep my mouth shut and keep getting tests when I'm told. I will go to the place where the hallway has little dressing rooms with littler curtains and change to get ready for my test. 

   I would suspect that many people are enjoying the same regime as I am. I hope that you are maintaining bone density.