Osteoporosis in older women develops slowly than previously thought; Research
Researchers have found that bone loss and osteoporosis in older women, such as those at the age of 65, develop so slowly that they can wait even 15 years for the second bone density test.
This research has been done by Dr. Margaret Gourlay, the study’s lead author and a family practice specialist and osteoporosis researcher at the University of North Carolina, and colleagues, and has been published online in January 19 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
“Bone density testing has been oversold,” said Steven Cummings, the study’s principal investigator and an emeritus professor of medical epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco.
This new study came after following approximately 5000 women of the ages round about 67 for more than a decade and tells that the tests are done too often for some women having osteoporosis or bone loss. Osteoporosis is a bone disease occurring in women after menopause and leading to very porous bones, which can be broken easily.
Researchers have found that less than 1% of women had normal bone density while they entered in the research and less than 5% with mildly low bone density developed osteoporosis in the coming 15 years.
Researchers have concluded that
Osteoporosis would develop in less than 10% of older, postmenopausal women during rescreening intervals of approximately 15 years for women with normal bone density or mild osteopenia, 5 years for women with moderate osteopenia, and 1 year for women with advanced osteopenia.
The study has been supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Reference:
Margaret L. Gourlay, M.D., M.P.H., Jason P. Fine, Sc.D., John S. Preisser, Ph.D., Ryan C. May, Ph.D., Chenxi Li, Ph.D., Li-Yung Lui, M.S., David F. Ransohoff, M.D., Jane A. Cauley, Dr.P.H., and Kristine E. Ensrud, M.D., M.P.H., (2012). Bone-Density Testing Interval and Transition to Osteoporosis in Older Women. The New England Journal of Medicine, 366:225-233
