Bone Health & Osteoporosis FAQs

Since you build all the bone you are ever going to have by the time you are 30, much of your bone health depends on your genes and how well you built your bone density during those teenage years. A bone density test will tell you if you have to worry about osteoporosis and fractures.

Sufficient calcium, vitamin D and weight bearing exercise are the building blocks for strong bones. If your bones are still above the -2 T-score level that may be all you need to do. If your T-score is -2 or lower, bone medications in addition to the measures above are probably necessary. Your doctor will write a prescription if medication is necessary.

There is certainly a strong genetic factor in determining if you may get osteoporosis. It is one of the main risk factors. The only way you can find out is by having a bone density test.

There is a tiny amount of X-ray involved in a bone density test - about the same amount of radiation that you would get flying from California to New York. We naturally absorb about 1 mrm of radiation per day if we are living at sea level or 2-3 times that much if we live at higher elevations like Denver (elevation 5,000). A bone density test would give you about 0.1mrm of radiation.

The only way to determine how healthy your bones are is to have a bone density test. The United States Preventive Services Task Force published guidelines for testing. Medicare pays for bone density tests every 24 months for women over 65 and for men over 70. Other insurance companies will pay for a bone density test if you have risk factors for osteoporosis.

One out of every two women and one out of every four men has an osteoporotic fracture if they live past 50. We also know that men die more often than women following a hip fracture.

So yes, men do have to be concerned.

Take the kind of calcium you will take regularly! You benefit from all kinds of calcium, if you take it correctly, every day. Keep chewables in your car or on your desk. Put your tablets where you will remember to take them with meals. Calcium is a life long requirement so choose a calcium supplement that is compatible with your life style and one that you can afford.

No, if taken properly it doesn't matter when you take calcium as long as you don't exceed a dose of 600 mg. at a time and do take the supplement with something in your stomach. Food helps your stomach produce the acid needed to break calcium down for absorption.

Some medications like proton pump inhibitors* reduce stomach acids. However these are usually prescribed because the individual's stomach acid levels are too high and the medication reduces the acids to a more normal level. You might consider calcium citrate rather than calcium carbonate if you are on these drugs.