Bone Density Test, What Is This? - Dr. Siris (VIDEO)

Dr. Siris:

It’s something that’s relatively widely available. It’s covered by most insurances and it involves lying down, generally fully clothed, on a scanning table and a scanning arm painlessly and non-invasively scans over your spine and then over your hips to help determine the quantity of bone that you have. The results are calculated in a computer and you’re told your T-score. That’s the result of the bone density test, you’re given what’s called T-score.

If your score is between 0 and –1, you are considered normal. If it’s between –1 and –2.49 it’s called low bone mass, sometimes referred to as osteopenia but we prefer a low bone mass. If it’s below –2.5, that’s called osteoporosis. Now you can only use those terms if you’re a woman and you’re post-menopausal. If you’re pre-menopausal, you might get one of those labels given to you but it doesn’t have the same meaning as it does when you’re post-menopausal.

About Dr. Ethel Siris, M.D.:
Dr. Ethel S. Siris is the Director at the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center, Columbia University, is the Madeline C. Stabile Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, and is the immediate past-President for the National Osteoporosis Foundation. She is board certified in endocrinology and internal medicine, focusing on osteoporosis, metabolic bone disease, and bone and mineral metabolism.

Visit Dr. Siris at New York-Presbyterian Hospital

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• Bones & Joints