New Osteoporosis Screening Guidelines for Women Established – Do You Need to be Screened?
New screening guidelines for women were announced on January 17, 2011 by the US Preventative Services Task Force. According to the new guidelines for osteoporosis screenings, women 65 years old and above should have a screening at least once and women under age 65 who have experienced menopause should be screened as well if they are at greater risk of getting the condition. The reason for these new osteoporosis screening guidelines for women is because the risk of getting it heightens with age. Also, despite this fact, some women under age 65 still have weakening bones.
“If your bones look like a 65-year-old’s, or you have the same fracture risk as someone who’s 65, then you should be screened for osteoporosis,” said Dr. Ned Calonge , the Task Force chairman and president of the health care group Colorado Trust. Older recommendations made in 2002 differed from the newest guidelines for osteoporosis screening in that women age 60 to 64 were merely encouraged to have a screening done. However, additional studies that have been published since this recommendation in 2002 have justified expanding the guidelines for women at risk for osteoporosis.
Women are specifically targeted in the osteoporosis screening guidelines because they are more prone to the disease than men. According to the Mayo Clinic, women are two times more likely to have a bone broken because of osteoporosis than men who have the condition. Because of these trends, and the fact that there have not been sufficient studies in regards to men with osteoporosis to justify the Preventative Services Task Force establishing a guideline, recommendations are geared only toward women. However, the National Osteoporosis Foundation suggests that men age 70 and older have a screening at least once. Also, any male over the age of 50 who might be at a greater risk for the condition should also be screened, according to the suggestion from this foundation.
The reason why osteoporosis screenings can occur once in a great while, as opposed to mammograms, is because the depletion of bone density is a slower process than the advancement of cancer. Risk factors of osteoporosis that can be controlled include low calcium intake, high alcohol consumption, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, and certain medications. Risk factors for the condition that cannot be controlled are aging, being female, having a chronic condition, being Caucasian or of Asian descent, or having a family history of osteoporosis. Slowing the onset of osteoporosis is much easier than building back lost bone mass, which is why screenings are so important for women at risk for osteoporosis.
More research in regards to osteoporosis and menopause needs to be completed, said Dr. Robert Recker, president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. The year that a woman begins menopause, and for about four years following that, her bone density will drop. More studies should be completed to validate creating guidelines for women during these years as their bone density drops.
