Bone Density Test

After 15 months of daily Forteo shots, exercise, and changing my diet to include more calcium and vitamins, I decided to see if I could do another bone density test while in Denver; my last was May 13, 2013. It was touch and go yesterday when I spoke to the testing center - they informed me that individuals could not schedule a bone density test; the request by law had to come from a Doctor. This blew me away; I even told them that I would be paying for it myself so didn't need to go through insurance. Didn't matter, they had to have a Doctor's request. Interesting that we Americans can buy a house, car, boat, food, clothes, drugs, guns, or just about anything else we want in this consumer economy we live in but we can't purchase a simple, 15 minute, noninvasive, health care test for bone density; go figure.

Moving around a lot like I do appears to complicate things like health care.  Readers may recall I applied December 14, 2014 to healthcare.gov and discovered I'm eligible for Medicaid in Arizona; however, I didn't receive official authorization and a Medicaid card until a week before leaving for Colorado on April 1st; not enough time to see a new Primary Care Physician in Tucson so I'm in between Doctors.  I explained this to my "former" Doctor in Lone Tree and he was nice enough to submit the request yesterday and the testing center had an opening this morning! I'm so grateful for people like this Doctor who use common sense; I'll miss his sensible approach to practicing medicine.

A bit of explanation for the uninitiated:) The DXA Bone Density test yields two numbers: T- and Z-Scores. The following definitions are from the Mayo Clinic website.

T-score is your bone density compared with what is normally expected in a healthy young adult of your sex. It is the number of units — called standard deviations — that your bone density is above or below the average where:

• > 1 = normal
• Between -1 and -2.5 = Osteopenia; below normal and may lead to osteoporosis
• -2.5 and below = Osteoporosis

Z-score is the number of standard deviations above or below what's normally expected for someone of your age, sex, weight, and ethnic or racial origin. Z-score of -2 or lower (i.e., me:) may suggest something other than aging is causing abnormal bone loss. 

Bone density tests are typically done on bones most likely to break because of osteoporosis:

• Lower spine bones (lumbar vertebrae)
• The narrow neck of your thighbone (femur), next to your hip joint
• Bones in your forearm

My tests in 2013 and today were performed at the same medical center on the spine, right femur, and total right hip; not sure why they didn't also test forearm. It is an easy, quick (10 minutes), and painless test which I highly recommend men and women take this test sooner rather than later. They say our bone density peaks around age 30 and thereafter starts to decrease. If I'd known then what I know now, I would have taken the test at 30 to establish my baseline; my bill was $165. The first thing they do is measure your height and weight; I've lost about an inch in height and 16 pounds since my last test (5/13/13); down to 137 pounds. My BMI is 19.5.

Comparing my 2013 results with today's the lab Doctor who signed the paperwork said:
Compared with the previous bone density tests, there has been a significant increase in bone density within the lumbar spine and no significant change in the right hip.

Good news for my spine although its still osteoporosis and its puzzling why bone density in my hip didn't also increase. Probably never know whether the increase in spine bone density is due to the Forteo, exercise, diet, vitamins, some combination, or something completely different, but I'm thankful. My T- an Z-Score results follow.

Spine T-Score
-3.3 (5/13/2013)
-2.8 (4/14/2015)

Total Hip (Right) T-Score
-1.9 (5/13/2013)
-2.0 (4/14/2015)

Spine Z-Score
-2.8 (5/13/2013)
-2.2 (4/14/2015)

Total Hip (Right) Z-Score
-1.5 (5/13/2013)
-1.6 (4/14/2015)

My weight loss makes me feel very thin and "boney"; so much so that in this morning's yoga class, I was hesitant to do some of the poses for fear of breaking something.