Q: How do I know if my osteoporosis medication is working?
A:Treatments for osteoporosis reduce — but don’t completely eliminate — your chance of breaking a bone. So how can you judge whether your medication is having a positive effect? The most common approach is bone-density measurement. This test uses special X-rays to measure how many grams of calcium and other bone minerals are deposited into a segment of bone. If your treatment is working, the measurement should at least remain stable and may increase somewhat.
Bone-density tests are easy, fast and painless. Virtually no preparation is needed. In fact, some simple versions of the bone-density tests can be done at your local pharmacy or drugstore.
Most experts recommend getting a follow-up bone density measurement one or two years after you start treatment. If your bone density is found to be falling significantly, your doctor may need to re-evaluate your response to the therapy.
In addition to medication, you should also be taking other steps to maintain bone health, such as taking calcium and vitamin D. It’s also important that you not smoke and that you avoid excessive use of alcohol. In addition, make low-impact, weight-bearing exercise, such as walking and strength training, a part of your daily routine.
Beyond that first follow-up bone-density measurement, you don’t really need further testing. But many women choose to continue the tests to reinforce the value of their treatment and feel positive about taking their medication. That’s better than stopping treatment after a year or two — which about half the women taking weekly medication for osteoporosis do.
These bone-density checks and talking with your doctor about the reasons for staying on your medication are reasonable ways to monitor and feel positive about your treatment. If you opt for regular bone-density testing, you’ll probably be tested every two years. The interval may increase to every three years or longer, depending on your bone-density test results.
Blood and urine tests that measure markers of bone turnover also may be helpful in knowing if your osteoporosis medication is working as expected. Talk to your doctor about whether these tests are a good option for you.
Readers: Can you name all of the medications you’re taking — and their dosages? What about the results from any recent medical tests or dates of immunizations you’ve received?If you’re like most people, you probably can’t rattle off this information without consulting your prescription bottles and paper records. You may even need to contact your doctors to get some of your history. This can be time-consuming. It could also be life-threatening in an emergency situation.
Enter the personal health record, which many are touting as the 21st-century answer to the problem of efficiently storing, retrieving and managing information related to your health. According to current definitions, a PHR is an electronic file or record of your health information that can be stored in one place and easily accessed, usually on the Internet.
Here’s more of what you should know about this form of recordkeeping.
• Benefits of a PHR: Accessibility is considered the primary benefit of a PHR. After all, paper- based records can be lost, damaged or not available in an emergency situation. Having more control over maintaining and sharing your own medical information could also help ensure that you receive better medical care in everyday situations. This may be especially true if you see multiple doctors or have a chronic condition that requires daily medication or regular monitoring or testing.
• Challenges: PHRs that are offered or maintained by a specific health-care plan or provider may not allow medical information from other sources to be added to your history. This may make it difficult to keep your health records completely up to date or well organized. This could also require you to regularly add data by hand and be responsible for its accuracy.
In addition, health information you record and store yourself my not be as secure as the data from a health-care system, which is protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
If you’re interested in starting a PHR, contact your primary health-care provider or your health plan to see if one is already available to you online. If you don’t have access to a PHR, or want to investigate other models, ask your health care providers if your medical records are available and accessible electronically, or request a paper copy.
Go to the Department of Health and Human Services at .
Adapted from Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource
Write to medicaledge@mayo.edu, or Medical Edge from Mayo Clinic, c/o TMS, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207; .
Dr. Bart Clarke, endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
