How To Diagnose Osteoporosis? – USMLE

One thing we can do to diagnose osteoporosis in all of those bones is send radiation through those bones: the hipbone, the femur and the lumbar spine, and then we can measure how much of the radiation is absorbed by these bones. We refer to this examination as DEXA. Dual energy X-ray ABSORPTIOMETRY and that can help us define osteoporosis and strike the right diagnosis. Healthy bones are supposed to absorb a lot of radiation, a lot of X-rays. Why? Because they’re dense. But osteoporosis reduces the density of the bone tissue, and it causes microarchitecture to deteriorate. Therefore, osteoporotic bones cannot absorb the radiation, and a lot of radiation simply goes through them. Can you recall the medical examination used to diagnose osteoporosis?