During Their Lifetimes, One in Three Women will Break Their Hip Bones(1)
This is preventable. The health of your bones can be evaluated with a urine test. Information about your bones will make a difference in your health, and your life!

A Case in Point
A woman in her fifties showed significant bone loss on both x-rays and a urine test. A post-menopausal salivary hormone test(2) was done. She was found to be deficient in three hormones. Her doctor gave her a balanced hormone regimen. Nine months later, her bone urine test was normal.

1. Adapted from Endocrinology, L.J. Degroot, W.B. Saunders Company, 1989.

2. The Post Menopausal Hormone Panel™ tests for estrone, estradiol, estriol, DHEA, testosterone and progesterone. This test is performed using one saliva sample. PostM is the trademark of Diagnos-Techs, Inc.

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Bone Health Panel™: Patient Overview

What Is Bone Aging?

Bone turnover is a process that takes place throughout our lifetimes. It is a delicate balance between bone formation and breakdown. In childhood and early adulthood, the process is strongly in favor of bone formation, and this continues up to the age of 20 to 30 years. From then on, there is a gradual thinning of bone with age, called osteoporosis. Around the onset of menopause, bone turnover tilts in favor of bone breakdown. This is due to the persistent imbalance or decline in estrogen, progesterone, and other hormones.

How Is It Related to Menopause?

During cycling years most women have enough ovarian output of progesterone and estrogen. These two hormones promote bone growth. Around the mid-forties (usually 3 to 4 years before cessation of menstruation), the levels of estrogen and progesterone start to gradually drop off, thus accelerating bone dissolution. In men, the decrease in testosterone can lead to a similar picture. Men convert testosterone into estrogen; therefore, a decrease in testosterone can reduce estrogen levels.

Does It Affect My Health?

Yes, it does.

Bone aging leads to a disease called osteoporosis that results in bone thinning and, more importantly, bone fragility. Osteoporosis can affect you and your loved ones in several ways:

Middle-aged and elderly people lose a few inches of their height due to osteoporosis.
Many seniors are prone to hip fractures secondary to osteoporosis.
1.5 million bone fractures, at various body sites, occur annually secondary to osteoporosis.

Am I at Risk for Osteoporosis?

Your risk for osteoporosis increases with:
• Age
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Fair complexion
• Smoking
• Alcohol consumption
• Family history of osteoporosis
• The onset of menopause...and when your doctor says that you have:

Thyroid disease
Diabetes
Adrenal impairment
Kidney disease
Rheumatoid arthritis

If you are at a high risk for developing osteoporosis, your physician has different measures and options to objectively assess your risks. These include:

• Bone Density Measurement—Employs radioactive or x-ray sources to measure your bone strength and mineral content.
• Urine Testing—Employs one random (any time of day) urinary specimen to assess the rate of bone breakdown in your body.

What Does Your Lab Offer Me?

We offer the Pyrilinks-D (DPD) urine test, which assesses bone breakdown, in combination with a saliva test that measures hormone levels of estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, FSH, testosterone and two cortisols.

Uses for the Bone Health Panel

Your doctor can use the Pyrilinks-D urine test within this panel to:

• Screen for osteoporosis in conjunction with bone densitometry.

• As a follow-up test to monitor the bone response in hormone replacement therapy and/ or osteoporosis treatment protocols.

Monitoring hormone replacement therapy through our lab also includes salivary hormone measurements of estradiol, estrone, estriol, progesterone, DHEA and testosterone—all from one salivary sample (PostM™ or PeriM™).