Vertebroplasty or Kyphoplasty = Osteoporosis

If you have a Vertebroplasty or a Kyphoplasty, you have Osteoporosis! Both procedures are done for painful, fresh Vertebral Compression Fractures (crunches of the spine).  If your spine goes crunch...

FRAX = Fracture Risk Assessment Tool

Fracture Risk!  You need to know Your Personal Fracture Risk. That is a lot more complicated than just your BMD or t-score.  FRAX is a huge step forward in calculating...

“Drug Holiday”

“Drug Holiday”.  How does that work?  After 5 or more years on Bisphosphonate medication, there is often enough accumulated medication to maintain Bone Mineral Density for 2 or 3 or more years without adding...

Teaching Osteoporosis Prevention

Nurse Practitioners need to know how to Screen for and Prevent Osteoporosis.  This past week I taught both the lecture and lab sections at Allen College.  The lab covered DXA, VFA,...

“Bone Attack”!

You know what a “Heart Attack” is.  It can kill or disable you.  It is a warning to take your heart health seriously. Recently I heard the term “Bone Attack”....

HyperParaThyroidism Part 3

Secondary Hyperparathyroidism is quite common.  I see a new case nearly every week.  Secondary Hyperparathyroidism happens when the parathyroid glands are doing their job. If you do not have enough...

ISCD 3 Natural Degenerative Kyphosis of Age???

When I was in medical school over 40 years ago, we understood that old bones got soft and crumbled.  In the spine that crumbling often took years.  The vertebrae grew...

ISCD 2 It’s All About Fractures and Kyphosis

I was an orthopedic surgeon for 30 years before I started to treat osteoporosis.  I started because most physicians in my area only treated DXA t-scores.  I wanted to treat...

Vertebral Compression Fractures

Vertebral Compression Fractures represent an area of changing understanding of Osteoporosis.  As an orthopaedic surgeon, I understand that a fracture is a fracture whether it occurs all at once or...