Osteoporosis & Metabolic Clinic

The clinic is a twice weekly clinic that serves patients with Osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle — so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses such as bending over or coughing can cause a fracture. Osteoporosis-related fractures most commonly occur in the hip, wrist or spine. Bone is living tissue that is constantly being broken down and replaced. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone doesn't keep up with the loss of old bone.

Endocrine department has Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning machine to measure bone mineral density (BMD). Two X-ray beams with different energy levels are passed through the patient. The BMD is estimated after subtracting absorption in the soft tissue (fat and muscle). Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the most widely used to diagnose osteoporosis. BMD is expressed as T scores and Z scores. The T-score is the number of standard deviations by which a person's BMD differs from that of healthy young adults. The Z-score is the number of standard deviations by which a person's BMD differs from that of same age and sex. A T-score of -2.5 or less is indicative of osteoporosis. DXA scan is also used to measure total body composition.