My dexa scan results were -3.2 which my doctor said was like the bones of a 90 year old. I am 61. How is this determined?
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Q: How do you determine bone age through a dexa scan?
Answers (2)
2/21/09 9:10pm
Hi:reetzsan and Larry: Reetzan, I agree with Larry's excellent explanation on your particular issue with t-scores. Since all people that are 90 years old all have completely different bone strength and density, it's not a good idea to compare anyone to someone that's not your age. A 90 year old could have great bones, and some may not, so a Dr.'s who compares people to any given age is very deceiving, and doesn't say much about your t-scores. I've heard the same thing, but really I had to ignore it. That's my personal opinion, and of course you'll have to make your own.
Larry, thanks so much for your input, and feel free to contribute more whenever you have some thing to add to any given community members concerns. It's always better to get more than one point of view, from our members intelligent insight.
I'm sure reetzsan appreciates your input but hasn't had time to give you the "did this help" input!
Jump in on our discussions whenever you feel you have something to add from your distinct point of view, it makes the community experience more comprehensive and much more well rounded.
Good luck reetzsan... And thanks Larry, for your intelligent insight on your experience with t-scores!
Good luck to you both!
Pam Flores
2/19/09 10:31pm
I made the mistake of looking at my DEXA scan and jumping to the conclusion that I had bones of someone x number of years old. The results only compare your bones to a reference group of 20 to 30 or 40 year olds. The results give you your T score that gives you a number that relates your density to that reference group. So, the DEXA results do not show how old your bones are. There are many sources on this web site and others that can explain the DEXA scan and T score results. The National Osteoporosis Foundation: http://www.nof.org/ and the NIH: http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Osteoporosis/default.asp are a couple of good places to start. I hope this can help.
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By reetzsan— Last Modified: 12/26/10, First Published: 02/19/09
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