My mom is 62 and was diagonosed with "pre" osteoporosis. What is this and how can we treat it?

Hi, Savvychick, and thank you so much for writing!

Did your mom have a bone scan? Maybe a DEXA bone scan? And after studying the results, this was the diagnosis she received?

What did the doctor say about what she should be doing next? Did the doctor prescribe medicine of any kind? Did she or he recommend weight-bearing exercise? Does she recommend calcium, Vitamin D or other supplements?

Pre-osteoporosis means that there is some loss of bone density and that, if allowed to proceed, the condition could progress to being osteoporosis. In other words, the doctor has told your mother that she has a higher risk of osteoporosis.

Pre-osteoporosis is also called Osteopenia. And your mom is not alone. Read what even the New York Times says in introducing an article about this:

"Today millions of people worldwide, most of them women, have been told they have osteopenia and should begin taking drugs to inhibit bone loss. But as Kate Murphy reports in today’s Science Times, a diagnosis of osteopenia doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong with you.

"Because bone naturally deteriorates with age, anyone much older than 30 is likely to qualify for a diagnosis of osteopenia; using similar logic, a middle-aged woman might be said to have a skin disorder because she had more wrinkles than her 30-year-old daughter."

Here's a link to that full story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/health/08bone.html?_r=1

And here's a U.S. News & World Report story discussing osteopenia from last year; there are some links beneath it that lead to articles titled "Three Steps to Stronger Bones" and "Bones, Joints and Muscles Center: Osteoporosis:"

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/bones-joints-and-muscles/2008/01/30/does-early-bone-loss-mean-you-need-drugs.html

We have some great videos at EmpowHer that discuss osteopenia:

On what it is:
https://www.empowher.com/media/video/video-dr-siris-osteopenia-what-it

On symptoms:
https://www.empowher.com/media/video/video-dr-siris-osteopenia-symptoms-what-do-they-include

On healing foods:
https://www.empowher.com/media/video/video-dr-mao-osteopenia-and-osteoporosis-which-healing-foods-help-prevent-these

Here's a woman who received a diagnosis of osteopenia and is writing about her favorite books on the topic. She says her favorite is "Reversing Osteopenia," by Harris McIlwain, M.D. and Debra Fulghum Bruce, PH.D. with Laura McIlwain Cruse, M.D., and Kimberly Lynn McIlwain, M.D.:

http://www.ctds.info/osteopenia.html

How active is your mom? Does she do any weight-bearing exercise? She should, if she can, because it will increase bone mass and bone density. (Wouldn't it be great if, in another year or two, a scan showed that she had increased her density?)

Here's a guide to 8 workouts that will help with this:

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/living-with-osteoporosis-7/exercise-weight-bearing

Does this information help?