LIFE CHIROPRACTIC COLLEGE WEST’S HEALTH CENTER URGES

BONE DENSITY SCREENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD.

HAYWARD, Calif., September 26, 2005-- Post menopausal women are not the only ones who are at risk for osteoporosis. Men and young women are affected by this silent condition, too, which can ultimately lead to serious disability. Doctors of Chiropractic at Life Chiropractic College West’s Health Center in Hayward urge osteoporosis screening for the following at-risk groups:

• All women over age 65 and men over 75
• Postmenopausal women with one or more risk factors
• All postmenopausal women with fractures
• Premenopausal women with 3 or more risk factors
• Men over 65 with three or more risk factors
• Persons taking long-term corticosteroids
• Young female athletes with amenorrhea
• Young females with eating disorders

Risk factors include: female, Asian, or Caucasian, advanced age, family history, low body weight, estrogen/testosterone deficiency, early menarche, inadequate weight-bearing activity, use of corticosteroids, alcoholism, current smoker, use of caffeine especially with smoking, low calcium intake, women who have not borne children and women who have borne more than five children.

The LCCW Health Center uses the Meditech DTX-200 Densiomenter to screen for both osteopenia (early changes in bone density) and osteoporosis. The screening process is simple, painless and takes only 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes could make the difference between active living and long-term disability.

 Osteoporosis screening is among hundreds of activities taking place nation wide during United States Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD) National Awareness Week. The USBJD commission was formed in 2002 to raise awareness of the growing burden of musculoskeletal disorders, including arthritis, low back pain, and osteoporosis, which affect one in seven Americans and costs society around $300 billion a year.

As a ‘Friend of the Decade’, the goal of Life Chiropractic College West’s Health Center is several fold: to treat and promote prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and empower patients through educational programs.

Life Chiropractic College west, established in 1976, is an accredited non-profit institution of higher learning offering the doctor of chiropractic degree through a four-academic-year program. The college’s public Health Center provides health care, including osteoporosis prevention, for more than 1,700 patient visits a week. Life West maintains a web site at www.lifewest.edu. For more information about the United States Bone and Joint Decade, visit www.usbjd.org.