Bone Mineral Density Tests Glossary of Terms

1. Osteoporosis Slideshow Pictures
2. Super Foods for Your Bones Slideshow Pictures
3. Take the Osteoporosis Quiz

Anorexia: An eating disorder characterized by markedly reduced appetite or total aversion...

Anorexia nervosa: See Anorexia.

Bone density: Bone density is the amount of bone tissue in a certain volume of bone. It ca...

Bone mineral density: BMD, a measure of bone density, reflecting the strength of bones as ...

Broken hip: Fractured bone in the hip, a key health problem among the elderly, usually due...

Calcium: A mineral found mainly in the hard part of bones, where it is stored. Calcium is ...

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Computed tomography: An x-ray procedure that uses the help of a computer to produce a deta...

Corticosteroid: Any of the steroid hormones made by the outer portion (cortex) of the adre...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

DEXA: Dual energy X-ray absorptometry. See: DXA.

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Dowager's hump: An abnormal outward curvature of the thoracic vertebrae of the upper back....

Estrogen: A female steroid hormone that is produced by the ovaries and, in lesser amounts,...

Family history: The family structure and relationships within the family, including inform...

Forearm: The portion of the upper limb from the elbow to the wrist. The forearm has two bo...

Fracture: A break in bone or cartilage. Although usually a result of trauma, a fracture ca...

Glucocorticoid: A hormone that predominantly affects the metabolism of carbohydrates and, ...

Hip fracture: Broken bone in the hip, a key health problem among the elderly, usually due ...

Hyperparathyroidism: Too much parathyroid hormone resulting in abnormally high levels of ...

Informatics: The application of computers and statistics to the management of information....

Internal medicine: The medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and medical treatment ...

Kneecap: The patella, the small bone in the front of the knee. The patella is a little (se...

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Liver disease: Liver disease refers to any disorder of the liver. The liver is a large org...

Medicare: The US government's national health insurance program for people aged 65 and old...

Menopause: The time in a woman's life when menstrual periods permanently stop; it is also...

NIH: National Institutes of Health.

Nursing: 1) Profession concerned with the provision of services essential to the maintena...

Nutrition: 1) The science or practice of taking in and utilizing foods. 2) A nourishing ...

Osteopenia: Mild thinning of the bone mass. Osteopenia represents a low bone mass and is n...

Osteoporosis: Thinning of the bones, with reduction in bone mass, due to depletion of calc...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Peripheral: Situated away from the center, as opposed to centrally located.

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Postmenopausal: After menopause, the period of time after a woman has experienced 12 conse...

Quantitative: Having to do with quantity or with the amount.

Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy ...

Rheumatology: A subspecialty of internal medicine that involves the nonsurgical evaluation...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Shin: 1. The tibia, the larger of the two bones in the lower leg.
2. T...

Shinbone: The larger of the two bones in the lower leg (the smaller one being the fibula)....

Spine: 1) The column of bone known as the vertebral column, which surrounds and protects ...

Steroid: One of a large group of chemical substances classified by a specific carbon struc...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or s...

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Wrist: The part of the hand that is nearest the forearm and consists of the carpal bones a...

X-ray: High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-ray is used...