New Tools for Assessing Fracture Risk

The goal of this study is to determine whether two new, non-X-ray techniques can discriminate between high-energy fractures of normal bone (trauma) and low-energy fractures (fragility) of osteoporotic bone. The current gold-standard for assessing fracture risk areal bone mineral density (aBMD) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is not particularly effective at identifying individuals who are at risk of suffering a fracture. Yet, there is a growing population of diabetics and elderly individuals prone to fractures. In effect, the age-related and diabetes-related increase in fracture risk is independent of a person's aBMD. These findings stress the urgency in developing diagnostic tools that can improve fracture risk prediction so that patients can be treated with the appropriate anti-fracture therapies.