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Bone health coordinator: osteoporosis is preventable with screening, exercise and vitamin D
Summary
Joan Dobak, a bone health coordinator and PA, told the Paid Leave Podcast that fragility fractures should prompt evaluation, that DEXA scanning and lifestyle measures (exercise, calcium, vitamin D) are central to prevention, and that modern medicines can rebuild bone in high‑risk patients.
Joan Dobak, a certified physician assistant and bone health coordinator at the Connecticut Orthopedic Institute, said early identification and prevention can substantially reduce fractures among older adults. "When you've had one fracture from a slip and fall from a standing height ... that in the orthopedic mind is saying, we really need to put eyes on the bone health," Dobak said.
Dobak told host Nancy Barrow that clinicians use two primary approaches to identify osteoporosis: a clinical diagnosis made after certain fragility fractures (for example, hip or vertebral compression fractures) and measurement with a DEXA scan, the latter described as the "gold standard" for bone density. She said guidelines commonly call for DEXA screening about every two years for older…
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