With the aging of the population, the incidence of osteoporosis is increasing, especially in the elderly female population, the incidence is higher, some studies show that 1/3 of women aged 60-70 suffer from osteoporosis, and 2/3 of women over 80 suffer from osteoporosis, patients with osteoporosis often show low back pain, weakness, shorter height, especially prone to fractures, which seriously affects the quality of life of the elderly . How do you know if you have osteoporosis? Bone density measurement can clarify the mineral content of bones and effectively predict the risk of fracture, and is used clinically to evaluate the severity of osteoporosis. There are various instruments used to measure bone density in various hospitals, the most common ones are dual-energy X-ray bone densitometer and ultrasound bone densitometer. What is the difference between these two? Shi Suqin of the Department of Endocrinology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Dual-energy X-ray bone densitometer obtains two kinds of energy, i.e. low-energy and high-energy photon peaks, by passing the X-ray tube ball through a certain device. After these photon peaks penetrate the body, the scanning system sends the received signals to the computer for data processing and derives the bone mineral content. The instrument measures the vertebral body, which represents cancellous bone, and the femoral neck, which represents dense bone. The accuracy is high, the measurement error is less than 1%; the safety is high, the radiation dose of one test is equivalent to 1/150 of a chest X-ray; it can accurately assess the natural change of bone density every year and whether the bone density increases after drug intervention, which is closely related to the risk of fracture, and is the “gold standard” of clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis adopted by the International Health Organization “. Ultrasonic bone densitometry uses sound wave conduction velocity and amplitude attenuation to reflect the amount of bone mineral content and bone structure and bone strength, and the main measurement site is the heel or finger, which correlates well with dual-energy x-ray bone densitometry. The method is easy to operate, inexpensive, and has a large measurement error, so it cannot be used in the clinic to confirm the diagnosis of osteoporosis and assess the natural changes in bone density from year to year, but is used to screen for osteoporosis. For postmenopausal women and men older than 50 years old, it is recommended to use dual-energy X-ray bone densitometry to understand their own bone density. Our hospital has been carrying out dual-energy X-ray bone density examination for 8 years, during which time the testing technicians have undergone systematic training and study to ensure the reliability and continuity of the measurement results, and can assess the annual bone density changes, which is more conducive to clinicians’ diagnosis and efficacy determination. Examination location: Osteoporosis examination room on the 3rd floor of Hospital Building 1 Osteoporosis specialist clinic: Room 37 on the 3rd floor of Hospital Outpatient Building (Thursday all day) Room 38 (Friday afternoon) This article is published with the authorization of Dr. Shi Suqin.