Whenever a client tells me her doctor says she should take osteoporosis medications, I always respond with the following comment… “If the problem is serious enough to warrant the use of strong bone drugs, then it is serious enough to warrant an investigation into the possible causes of the supposed bone weakening.”
The truth is that many times when we take a closer look, we find there actually isn’t excessive bone weakening, just regular age-related bone loss! That’s why a health practitioner’s suggestion — or often demand — that a patient use bone drugs offers a good opportunity to do a standard medical workup searching for the possible cause of bone loss.
In part 3 of my Better Bones Empowerment Video Series Uncovering the hidden causes of bone loss — medical tests you should know about, I explain which tests you should know about so you can discuss them with your practitioner. There are many baseline medical tests commonly used to help uncover hidden causes of bone weakening or osteoporosis and this Empowerment Series discussion details over a dozen of them including:
• Vitamin D Blood 25(OH)D Test
• Intact Parathyroid Hormone (iPTH) Blood Test
• 24-Hour Urine Calcium Excretion Test
• Gluten sensitivity
Remember, osteoporosis always has a cause and the best path to life-long bone health is uncovering and correcting the underlying causes of the bone weakening. Empowering yourself with knowledge about these tests is especially important when you already have signs of excessive bone loss or have experienced a low-trauma fracture.
Finally, a few comments regarding your medical records: make it your personal responsibility to obtain copies of all your test results and try to understand, or find out, what they mean. Make sure to keep the medical test reports with your personal records. No one else cares about your bone health as much as you do and no one will suffer the consequences of neglecting your bone health as much as you will. But it is also crucial to remember we all have options and control when it comes to our bone health.
Watch this blog as a video or purchase Uncovering the hidden causes of bone loss — medical tests you should know about now.