Foreword by Sally Ride, PhD

Introduction: To Your Bone-Healthy Life

PART  1:  BONE HEALTH BASICS

Building Perfect Bones: Timing Is Everything

Fracture Facts: One Tough Break Leads to Another

Challenges and Choices: What You Can and Cannot Change

The Bone Cycle: Cruise Control and Overdrive

PART  2:  ASSESSMENT OF BONE HEALTH

General Evaluation: Visiting with Your Doctor

Bone Density Scan: DXA 101

Other Measurements: The Alphabet Soup of Imaging

Bone Turnover Markers: Dynamic Assessment

Monitoring with Follow-Up DXAs: NOT One and Done

PART  3:  GENERAL MEASURES FOR BONE HEALTH

Exercise: On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

Fall Prevention: Fall-Proof Yourself and Your Home

Nutrition: Take a Bite out of Your Fracture Risk

Calcium: It Is Essential

Vitamin D: Are You Getting Enough of the Sunshine Vitamin?

PART  4:  THERAPIES FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF OSTEOPOROSIS

FDA-Approved Medicines

Introduction

Fosamax (and Generic Alendronate): The First Kid on the Block

Actonel: Me, Too?

Boniva: “The Sally Field Drug”

Reclast: Just Once a Year

Estrogens: Effects on Bone

Evista: The Designer Estrogen or “SERM”

Calcitonin—Miacalcin, Fortical: The Nasal Sprays

Forteo: A Different Approach

Prolia: In a Class of Its Own

Combination Therapy: Are Two Really Better than One?

Making a Choice: How Do the Medicines Compare?

Off-Label Uses: What Else Is Being Treated?

Hot Topics: Cocktail Party Conversations

Drugs in Development

Novel Medicines: What Is in the Pipeline?

Investigational SERMs: A Promise of an Ideal Estrogen

Other Medicines: Available Elsewhere But Not in the United States

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Introduction

Fosteum: A Food Product by Prescription

Soy: Pass the Tofu?

Strontium Citrate: Is It the Same as Ranelate?

Natural Products: Still More Questions to Be Answered

Vibration Therapy: Good, Good, Good, Good Vibrations

Physical Measures: Integrating Movement

After a Major Fracture

New Spine Fractures: Ways to Cement a Recovery

Hip Fracture: What to Expect

Other Concerns

How Do You Monitor Your Progress?

Living and Coping with “Osteopenia” and Osteoporosis

Expert Medical Advice: Asking the Right Questions

PART  5:  THE BONE CONNECTION WITH COMMON PROBLEMS AND MEDICINES

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Premenopausal Women

Birth Control: Pills and Shots

Menstrual Problems: No Periods and Endometriosis

Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia

Intestinal Problems: Celiac Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Thyroid Problems

Weight Loss, Including Surgery for Weight Loss (Gastric Bypass)

Steroid Use: Prednisone

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Diabetes

Heartburn and Reflux: “GERD”

Depression

Breast Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Long-Term Care Setting: Assisted Living and Nursing Facilities

PART  6:  FINAL THOUGHTS

The Bone Health Top Ten

Putting It All Together: Tips for the Whole Family

APPENDICES

Bone Healthy Shopping List

Big Words: Medical Terms Broken Down

Internet Resources: Click on It

Acknowledgments

References

Index