Featuring Dr. Daniel Ngui, BSc (P.T), MD, CFPC, FCFP

Duration: 2 minutes, 19 seconds

When you see your physician, often times they’ll sit down with you, and get a complete history about your risk factors for developing osteoporosis.

It can be age, family history, medications, home morbid conditions, and anything else that can affect your fracture risk. The next step that will occur is that your physician will do a complete exam, looking for evidence of a fracture, such as height loss, or even changes in your shape and posture.

Finally, your physician may decide that a bone density is the right thing to do for you to determine what your true risk of having a fracture is. Once all that information is gathered, it’s important to sit down once again with your physician, who may order some blood tests, talk to you about the different therapies that we have for preventing osteoporotic fractures.

Treatment includes diet, and exercise, and speaking to a dietitian or nutritionist is vitally important. Also treatment will include exercise in which physiotherapists, exercise trainers, or even osteoporosis prevention programs can help you understand.

Finally, sitting down one-on-one with your doctor can give you some idea of the different medication options that are available if appropriate for you. The major advantage of speaking to your family physician about the treatment of osteoporosis is they know you. They know you over time, and they know about your medical conditions.

They can guide you as to the best different types of therapies that will reduce your risk of fracture, or any benefits appropriate. The different therapies that we have available to us include pill format, intravenous format, injectable format, and which one is dependent upon your individual situation, and your individual doctor.

Furthermore, there are many new guidelines that have come out recently guiding physician as to the best therapies to reduce your own risk for fracture in the future.

It’s important if you have any questions or any concerns, that you make an appointment to speak to your physician or your local expert. Treatments vary according to patient as well as physician, so once again, make an appointment and speak to your physician.

Presenter: Dr. Daniel Ngui, Family Doctor, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Family Doctor