Patient care of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a condition of excessive skeletal fragility that afflicts more than 25 million Americans and results in over one half million fractures per year in the United States. Evaluation of patients presenting with symptoms of osteoporosis includes measurement of serum 25 hydroxy, vitamin D, thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone, serum protein electrophoresis, in addition to blood count, urinalysis, and multichannel screen. Spine and other films are indicated as necessary, and although bone density measurements are useful, they are somewhat restricted in availability. There are lifestyle measures that influence the cause as well as the treatment of osteoporosis. Symptomatic patients benefit most by interventions that include nutrition, physical fitness, calcium, and vitamin D.