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Osteoporosis screening available at Weiss Memorial Hospital uses the latest technology to detect bone loss while still treatable.

Early osteoporosis may go unnoticed until the bones become so weak that a sudden strain, bump or fall causes a bone fracture. In the past, conventional X-rays could only detect the disease after 25 percent of a bone's mineral content was already gone. Now, several imaging techniques make earlier detection easy, quick and convenient.

The most effective imaging technique is the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) densitometer scanning technology that's now available at Weiss. A DEXA scan can spot a loss in bone density as low as 1 percent.

DEXA scans (bone mineral density tests) use low-dose X-rays to determine the bone density of the spine, arm or hip. The scanning technique is fast and painless and requires no injections or invasive procedures.

During a scan test, a person lies fully clothed on a padded treatment table while a mechanical wand is passed over the body. The radiation dose during the test is less than the radiation exposure during a coast-to-coast airline flight. Tests of the spine, arm or hip can take two to five minutes each.

Your physician may recommend a DEXA scan to help:

• Confirm a diagnosis of or tendency toward osteoporosis
• Detect low bone density before a fracture occurs
• Determine rate of bone loss if the test is repeated over time
• Monitor the effects of treatment over time

The DEXA test is different from a bone scan. The latter test may help a physician identify certain bone abnormalities such as infection, inflammation and cancer, and requires an injection of radioactive material.

Office Address:
Weiss Memorial Hospital
4646 North Marine Drive
Chicago, IL 60640

Floor/Suite/Elevator:
Third Floor, A Elevator

Fact Sheet > DEXA