Bone density test and natural ways to increase with supplements, vitamins and herbs, calcium pills, boron, strontium and other minerals
Benefit of bone density testing
Tells a patient if she has osteoporosis
Helpful
in predicting risk of broken bones
Determines the need for treatment and monitor
its effectiveness
Risks
May encourage patients to take unnecessary medications
Exposes
patient to low levels of radiation
Low bone density in ballerinas
Professional ballerinas, like highly driven young
female athletes, face several health threats -- disordered eating, menstrual
dysfunction, the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, and early signs of
cardiovascular disease. Dr. Anne Hoch of The Medical College of Wisconsin in
Milwaukee
reported on a study of 22 professional ballerinas from the Milwaukee Ballet
Company. Their average age was 23 and their average weight was 114 pounds.
Eighty-six percent of the dancers had at least component of the female athlete
tetrad and 14 percent had all four components.
Female athletes who don't eat enough to make up for the energy they expend
during long workouts, may stop getting their period as a consequence, Dr. Anne Hoch
explained. These two components of the female athlete tetrad put them at higher
risk for the other two -- cardiovascular problems and bone density deficits --
often seen in much older, postmenopausal women.