Take Charge of Your Diagnosis
When you have been told that you have osteoporosis you probably ask yourself, what do I do now? Once you have determined that your bone loss is likely to be excessive, or if you have experienced a low-trauma osteoporotic fracture, then the next step is to seek the causes of this unusual bone weakening. I have discussed the many lifestyles and nutritional factors that contribute to the development of osteoporosis. You likely know about many of these—poor nutrition, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol, smoking, low-grade chronic metabolic acidosis, and the use of certain medications.
Make it your personal responsibility to obtain copies of all your test results. Make an attempt to understand what they mean. Keep the medical test reports with your personal records. No one else cares about your bone health as much as you do, and no one will suffer the consequences of neglecting your bone health as much as you will. Below are the tests your doctor should conduct following your diagnosis.
Vitamin D 25(OH)D blood test, This test determines your blood level of vitamin D. The results tell you the amount of vitamin D supplementation needed to reach a therapeutic blood level of vitamin D, which is important for adequate calcium absorption and basic bone support.
The ionized calcium test is a simple blood test to measure the level of free calcium — that is, the metabolically active portion of calcium not bound to proteins in the blood.
24-hour urine calcium excretion test, this test looks at how much calcium is being excreted in the urine. For this test, you collect all your urine over 24 hours in a large container for laboratory analysis to measure the amount of calcium in the total volume of urine. Excessive urinary calcium excretion is a common cause of bone loss and osteoporosis.
Make sure you follow up on your results, as it is so important to make sure you are getting what you need to help build stronger bones.
I hope you find this information helpful and wish you all a Blessed day!
Until next time,
Cecilia