You are here: Home > News & Resources > Loyola's Printed Publications > Loyola Living May 2001 Issue > DEXA Scan Sees Osteoporosis Before You Do

DEXA Scan Sees Osteoporosis Before You Do

After her first, routine bone scan, Darlene Lodico got some surprising news: she had an advanced case of osteoporosis. Yet, Lodico, of Westchester, was only in her 50s, and she felt fine. Her primary care physician referred her to Glenn Sizemore, M.D., an endocrinologist at Loyola University Health System (LUHS). “After looking at the scan, Dr. Sizemore said to me ‘I expected a woman in her 80s to walk into my office.’ He told me that on a scale of one to 10, I was already a six,” Lodico said.

Without treatment, her bones would continue to get thinner and more fragile until even minor bumps or falls would result in painful fractures. “He really scared me. He said, ‘You could get to the point where you’re going to be wheelchair bound only because every time you bump into something, you’re going to fracture a bone,’” Lodico recalled. 

Since you cannot see or feel osteoporosis in its early stages, physicians use bone density scans to evaluate the bones and head off problems. “In the future, I see the bone density scan being used as widely as mammograms,” said Pauline Camacho, M.D., an endocrinologist who heads the new Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center at LUHS.

Camacho recommends that women over age 65 get a bone scan at least every other year if the scan is normal and more frequently if the scan is abnormal. Post-menopausal women under age 65 should have the scan if they have risk factors for developing osteoporosis (see box). Often known as DEXA scan, the bone density scan is quick and painless. Patients lie flat, fully dressed, while the DEXA scan machine moves slowly over their body.

DEXA scans are conveniently available on site at Loyola’s Family Health Center at LaGrange Park, Loyola’s Family Health Center at North Riverside, and at the Loyola University Medical Center campus in Maywood.

Although osteoporosis is very common, it is no longer considered a normal part of aging. Rather, it is a preventable and treatable disease. Regular exercise and a good diet are important preventive measures. Pre-menopausal women should get 1000 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D daily. Post-menopausal women not taking estrogen should take 1500 mg of calcium and 400-800 IU of vitamin D, according to Camacho.

At Loyola’s comprehensive Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease Center, patients can receive the latest treatments ranging from nutritional consultation and physical therapy to high-tech treatment of spine fractures. Physicians in the center have extensive experience combining and tailoring the latest medications.

When Lodico’s osteoporosis was discovered, her physician recommended she take a medication called Fosamax, to build bone mass, along with a daily calcium supplement. He also recommended regular exercise. Lodico was a runner and exercised sporadically, but after starting the medication, she stepped up her exercise routine. “I decided, I’m going to do something while I still can. I saw my mom suffer with osteoporosis; she was literally bent over,” Lodico said.

Lodico’s commitment to the medication and exercise routine yielded excellent results. One year after Lodico started Fosamax and her excercise routine, Camacho was impressed at how much bone mass Lodico had gained.  Her story illustrates that, if used properly and combined with other lifestyle improvements, bone-building drugs can be very effective in fighting osteoporosis, and those drugs are getting better all the time.  

-->Go back to issue index-->