Interpreting a DEXA Bone Scan

Many people, especially post-menopausal women, go to the doctor because of weak bones and get sent for a DEXA Bone Scan. This video is created in order to briefly explain how to understand that report from a lay person or health professional point of view.

Disclaimer: I am a 3rd year medical student and not a physician. Please always consult your own doctor for medical advice.

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Twitter: @ProfRoofs

[highphysics]

Your explanation is superb. My DEXA scan of two years ago has always been a mystery, and, a little scarey. Now I'm trying to fully understand what happens with a DEXA scan, in particular the neck of the femur score, one of my biggest fears! Excellent video Prof Roofs.

[gettingfitafterforty]

Thanks for that explanation. I just got my scan yesterday and was confused to some of the numbers

[donnapollock]

Thank you for explaining this information so clearly and truthfully where we all can understand it. My Doctor freaked me out saying Oh my Goodness you have to start doing something about your bones before you fall apart and break all your bones. I was so scared and thought I would maybe fall and end up in a home somewhere. She wanted me to take those awful shots, but I said no. I'm on a Vitamin and Mineral and working out. I eat tons of Protein. and drink a couple of Fair Life Protein drinks too. 9000 mg of Vit D and K2Mk7 Magnesium, Copper, Calicum, Phrosphrous I hope I'm doing enough

[vanessadorminey]

Your explanation is very much appreciated!!

[janemackenzie]

A very useful video on reading a DEXA score, thanks. Interesting that you say taking oestrogen can cause cancer. This is quite an old post and there are oestrogen drugs now that are body identical and research says thy are less likely to cause cancer. What is your view on this now? As a 56 year old who is looking into hormone replacement i am trying to gather as much information on this. My mother had OP and I don't want to go down the same road.

[АлексейЛинич]

Many thanks for the explanation! I'm not a native speaker, but I've got everything! Thanks a lot!

[rosarioamansec]

thank you sir for your enlightening lecture

[shabanakhoja]

Age 30femel vitamin d 8.22ng/mL tha.mene bmd wo jo per rakh ke machine pe test karte he wo -1.33 aaya tha.

[adamdominguez]

I was given a t-score and z-score of 3.3
I’m having a difficult time understanding if this is really bad because it seems way too high

[annie.bo.briggs]

Thank you for sharing. I can't really see the test results you are showing but I'm 65 and 1.6SD below the best and 0.813 gm/cm2 is my BMD. The BMD is the part I don't understand. Can you help? Thank you.

[ramakoli]

Iam 70 years.two months back I had dexa scan my neck T score is-3.1, L1–2.2, L2-2.1, L3 -3.2, L4 -3.4.
What supplements should I use.

[riturajmehra]

Can a cochlear implant patient go for dexa test?

[uiop]

Wait... so the lab result misspelled the very NAME of the scan?
lol

[raultennis]

I just had a DEXA scan for full spine and results were normal. Does that mean that I very likely do not have osteoporosis in other places like the leg?

[warsame]

thank u very much i finally understood it! :)

[bobbilynnbolton]

So my question for you is that my T score for my spine is much lower than for the other areas tested, the spine is -3.3 left total hip is -1.4, left femoral neck is -0.9, right FN is -1.1 and right total hip is -1.0. Does this mean that I have a higher risk of fracture in my spine? I have had 3 stress fractures in the past year; each tibia and the left knee (medial tibial plateau and medial femoral condyle)

[firasmiri]

My report says T score not applicable? is it because of my age (26)? I have a Z score however but I'm not sure what that means

[xSant]

What does the blue area in the graphic mean?

[Seekingtruth-mxur]

My T score in low spine came in at -4.0 ranges. Do I have hight risk of fracture? I'm only 36.

[jasontodd]

Can someone who is out of shape do it before starting weight loss journey?