Bone Density Research

Source: Book Review by Irene Alleger in Townsend Letter Dec. 2003, p104  of:  The Myth of Osteoporosis: What Every Woman Should Know About Creating Bone Health by Gillian Sanson

Hypothesis:  Bone Mineral Density (BMD) assays are inaccurate; menopausal women are not necessarily at risk of fragility fractures even when diagnosed with declining or abnormally low BMD

Fact: Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXI) is the gold standard for this assessment - BMD

Fact: DXI manufacturers have never standardized their machines

Fact: Variations in BMD occur over the seasons, from region to region (by greater than 10%), person to person

Fact: a diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia does not correlate well with those having fragility fractures

Fact: BMD decline is observed normally without risk of fragility fracture

Fact: the diagnosis of BMD decline does not convey the cause of the condition

Fact: HRT (hormone replacement therapy) ignores the above facts and is untested/unproven as a treatment for low BMD, etc.