ACSH recently identified actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s unhealthy fad dieting as the likely culprit behind her diagnosis of early onset osteopenia, a risk factor for osteoporosis. Perhaps the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) had her in mind when it updated the guidelines for assessing osteoporosis to recommend screening younger women who present the same risk factors as 65 year-old white women. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the revised standards call for bone tests for women between the ages of 50 and 64 with risk factors such as smoking, menopause, being small and thin (BMI below 21 kg/m2), osteopenia (diminished bone mineral content), or a family history of the ailment.
