A Bad Doctor? Pretend you overhear a conversation about skeletal health while on

Question

A Bad Doctor? Pretend you overhear a conversation about skeletal health while on the bus. A woman is saying, "You wouldn't believe this new doctor I'm seeing! I had all my blood tests done and they all came back great, except for low on vitamin D. And what does the doctor do? She tells me I should get a bone checkup for osteoporosis! Now you know I eat lots of food with calcium in it, and get this, my calcium blood levels are normal! What kind of doctor thinks you can get osteoporosis when your calcium levels are perfectly fine? I'm not getting that silly bone checkup." What would you be thinking during this conversation? If you were this woman's doctor, how would you explain the recommendation to get a bone density test?

Explanation / Answer

Osteoporosis is a disease where there is increased bone weakness that may lead to fracture if bone and it commonly occurs in elderly patients.

Vitamin D causes the absorption of calcium from intestine and it also inhibit excretion through kidney thus it tends to keep the calcium high.it deficiency causes decrease in calcium in blood. but here in the Ques the blood levels are normal.

So correct explanation is that vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased production of parathyroid hormone.PTH increases bone resorption leading to bone loss and thus osteoporosis.so despite of normal.level of calcium in blood there can be osteoporosis.

So the doctor was absolutely correct.the lady should go for osteoporosis checkup

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