Offering specialist advice
Osteoporosis - diagnosis and treatment
Dr. Kavanagh has had an interest for many years in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.
He first opened an osteoporosis screening service in 2004 and and has been medical director of the Bone Mineral Density Unity in the Bon Secours Hospital since 2006.
He also runs a regular osteoporosis clinic where he provides specialist advice to patients with osteoporosis.
Who needs to see an osteoporosis specialist?
Most patients with Osteoporosis can be managed in general practice and don’t require specialist assessment. Certain categories of patients however, may require specialist input;
Patients with severe osteoporosis.
This usually means patients who have already had a number of fractures / broken bones (as opposed to those patients where their osteoporosis may have been picked up on screening with a DEXA scan).
Those patients who have continued to lose bone despite medical treatment.
This is picked up on repeat DEXA scans. Remember repeat scans should always be done on the same machine as there are differences between machines.
Patients who are intolerant of tablet treatments for osteoporosis.
There are certain medical treatments which can be accessed through medical specialists which can be given by injection or intravenous infusion.
Younger patients with low bone density / osteoporosis are good candidates for an osteoporosis assessment as well.
More information
Pre-visit blood tests
This is a series of lists (for patients and their referring doctors) of blood tests that are most useful in the diagnosis of certain types of conditions.