@swpocket It’s not done on younger premenopausal women in their 20s and 30s because of estrogen. Estrogen is the protective hormone for women against high cholesterol and bone resorption.
That’s why there is a lesser extent for women at healthy weight in their 20s, 30s and early 40s to have issues with heart diseases or osteoporosis as compared to men. It’s because of estrogen.
@swpocket There are outliers definitely since both cholesterol and bone disease can be affected by family history, genetics and lifestyle habits. Low risk doesn’t mean no risk.
However what I’m saying for the general population it is not common to test for it because the risk is low for premenopausal women. Even more so for a woman in her twenties who is more likely to have very active osteoblasts.
You should still definitely get it tested if you don’t feel right. I’m just explaining from the medical POV it is not part of regular check up to do bone mineral density checks for women.
@meteorstorm What you said makes perfect sense. However (something like) cervical cancer is extremely rare in someone in her 20s, yet the guideline was a Pap smear / cervical screening every 3 years back then. Not to mention a pap is a much bigger hassle than a DXA scan. Granted, cervical cancer is much more dire than osteoporosis. I just wish this quick, easy, painless DXA scan had been suggested to me before age 48, when I took it on my own for silly, arbitrary reasons. (So even on the heels of turning 50, no one is mentioning DXA to me.) Why are we waiting until women turn 70 (from another user’s comment ITT) to scan people?
If I knew osteopenia was a thing – especially among women
@swpocket Uh oh. I’m 25F 5’3” and 120lbs. With a type 1 lateral tibial plateau fracture from falling on some ice while walking.. maybe I should look into this lol
@swpocket This is exactly why health should not be assessed by whether someone “looks” healthy or not…smh it’s 2023. Still trying to convince my bf of this.
@knowthespirit Yes! Yes! Yes! I took my first beginner class this morning! (That’s actually the “bone clinic” I referred to above. Really impressed with them.) Looking around at the other women in the class and noticing how they were all short and on the smaller side, is what inspired this post!
@swpocket I go once a week to onero classes and then replicate it in my gym a second time in the week.
I’ve noticed my spindley arms and shoulders have started to take shape !!
It’s kind of addictive.
I’m looking forward to the dexa scan review in September. It’s osteopenia at this stage but my left hip is borderline osteoporosis . At 54 yrs thankfully my spine is good .
I asked for the dexa from my gp who told me to wait till I was 70. Seriously??
Even though I tick all the boxes and have a family history. So I went ahead with it. So glad I did!
I’ve had low vitamin d previously and now I supplement with D and K2.
Even halting the progression is seen as a win, so it’s important to keep that in mind.
@knowthespirit Great to hear! Yeah, my 2nd scan results (from QLD X-ray) said at the bottom: “A follow up study in 2-5 years is suggested.” Why, so I can see how much MORE density I’ve lost at that point?!
My GP claims I’m ineligible for the “care plan” where Medicare would reimburse a portion of the $350. Half of what she says is incorrect anyway, so who knows. She gave me the flimsiest nutrition advice, and sent me on my way.
So (like you, I believe) I’m taking charge of this. In a YEAR I’d love to see an improvement. Fingers crossed. Nicolle, the dietician I talked to at the bone clinic, was a WEALTH of info compared to my ancient GP. (Any “facts” presented above, are pretty much straight from Nicolle.)
But like you said: if I can just keep my current levels for as long as possible, that will be a victory.
@swpocket Agree with you on Nicole’s advice, and the sad views from the gp’s too.
I can’t help but feel optimistic about taking charge sooner rather than later.
Adding muscle and bone is imperative for a healthy body and enjoyable life!
My mother in law has very little of either left at all. She can barely stand up from sitting in a chair or walk a few metres without exhaustion and a wheelie walker . Everything she does is an extreme effort, even personal care. She’s rail thin and feeble. It’s so sad, she’s never exercised or taken care to eat nutritiously. She gets a prolia injection for her osteoporosis, her muscles have wasted.
Not much fun.
I don’t want to be in her position in the future.
Good luck with your program!
@swpocket Not sure if it was mentioned already but look into the research around Vitamin K2 and maybe ask your doctor about including it in your supplements... my understanding is that it basically facilities calcium being routed and deposited in your bones/teeth rather than staying in your bloodstream and leading to atherosclerotic plaque buildup. From what I've read it seems like it's a big part of the picture when it comes to having more healthy bones and fewer heart attacks!
@swpocket This is solid advice! I’m 56 5’1” and have been 110-115 my adult life. I have run consistently since college and have 4 kids. I was shocked to get the OP diagnosis last Oct. I feel like everything I’ve done has been wrong - high cardio and no strength training. I started weight lifting 2 years ago. Also know that plyo is good for bone regeneration. Running isn’t good enough. We need to jump.
I recommend every biological female read Stacy Sims books Roar and Next Level. Next Level is specifically for women who are peri and post menopausal, but to the point of this post - women in their 20s-30s should learn now what to do to protect your bones. And women 40+ should know that it’s never too late to start. Sims’ recipe is to lift heavy sh*t, do plyometrics and short interval training (plus nutrition and sleep!). I could go on and on. I wish we had more info and support. There is a groundswell of middle aged women talking about this and creating support systems to discuss this and support one another. Also check out the FB group and podcast “Hit Play Not Pause”, started by Sims’ co-author Selene Yeager. Good luck to everyone as we navigate this understudied and under-supported topic!
@nevisummers Amazing! Just the kind of info I was after. Thank you! (I didn’t mention sleep in my post, but I absolutely sleep like the dead for 7–8 hours a night. So thankful for that.)
@laughter I’m sorry I don’t have a simple answer. They test different bones (each femur, and L1–4 of the spine, and others) and you’ve got a t-score and a z-score for each. The lower the score, the worse you are. My Ls are pretty bad; here is the bottom of 1 of the 3 pages, just to give you an idea of what the scan looks like. Luckily, wherever you get your scan, someone is there to walk you through it.
Also, all 3 of my results look very different in terms of layout. So they’re difficult for a layperson to compare easily. (Even though my results themselves are pretty much the same.)
The image above is from the bone clinic, and it’s the most comprehensive.
@goodtree Not in words, no. The technician had to basically “interpret” the data. Here is my “for fun” Dexa scan from last September. To me, it looks very close to gibberish. (If anything, I’d think my levels were fine judging from this.) However, the tech was like “um, your bone density is low for your age.” But TBH, I didn’t freak out at the time, because my 27 year old friend’s bone density was even lower than mine, and she didn’t seem too affected. I left thinking “yeah, I should mention that to my doctor.” The reality of the situation took a few months to really sink in. I linked part of my more recent scan from the bone clinic in a separate comment. This first $70 body comp was more general than my subsequent 2 scans.
