Your CME certificate will be faxed or mailed to you within 3-4 weeks. About one-half of women with hip fractures will spend some time in a nursing home. A history of vertebral fracture is associated with an increased risk of a subsequent fragility fracture. Hip fractures are frequently associated with a decline in functional status.
Bone loss occurs when the action of osteoclasts exceeds that of osteoblasts.
Estrogen deficiency may be more directly associated with accelerated bone loss, but not age-related bone loss. A more serious consequence of osteoporosis is the loss of trabecular continuity leading to irreversible loss of structural integrity. Due to methodological differences, bone mineral densities for a given patient may vary depending on the technology. Bone mineral density can only explain a portion of the fracture risk. Dual x-ray absorptiometry is the most common type of central measurement and is used to measure the bone density in the hip and spine.