34 yr old w/ osteopenia, no treatment? - Osteoporosis Message Board

ZoeGirl · 11-11-2004, 07:27 AM

Hello,

I have recently been told I have osteopenia. My older sister has it as well and has been on fosomax, my aunt and grandmother both had osteoporosis.

Excuse me for not knowing all of the terminology yet, but this is what I understand: my hips are -1.4 and my spine measured -2.5, BUT he is dismissing the spine reading because he believes it to be false (from the angle taken he says they read false a lot). My vit D and calcium levels were normal. I was told to take calcium and do my weight bearing exercises and to come back in a year for another scan.

What concerns me is my sister's spine is -1.9 and her hips are fine. What if the spine reading is correct? Even so, shouldn't I be taking something to correct this?

I guess I just need educated opinions. Should I seek another doctor or just wait a year and see if the bone density changes?

Thanks for you opinions!

eve_hmmkr · 11-15-2004, 09:14 AM

Your best bet is to visit Gillian Sanson's website at

www.gilliansanson.com/

BTW, here is here take on fosamax, in a nutshell:

"Drugs and products that influence bone density loss in ageing adults are widely prescribed but the evidence that they will actually prevent fractures is minimal. Bisphosphonates, the osteoporosis ‘preventing' drugs like Fosamax and Actonel are unpleasant to take and so ineffective that large numbers of people with low bone density need to be treated in order to benefit just one or two. Whether the drugs are safe long term is still not confirmed. There are concerns that long term use may lead to bones that are more brittle and prone to microfracture"

yanra · 11-17-2004, 09:10 PM

For my osteopenia I'm takin Fosamax and lots of Calcium. Alot of my osteopenia was caused by taking prednisone. Even taking estrogen will help.