Gwyneth dances great on 'Glee,' despite osteopenia

I'm a fan of Glee---and I really enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow's appearance on the show Tuesday night. However, it never occured to me that her dance moves were "despite" her osteopenia. This article in the WashingtonPost.com caught my eye when it popped up on the newsfeed yesterday.

Osteopenia, for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, is a condition that is a precursor to osteoporosis, thinning of the bones, making patients more susceptible to fractures as they age. I had mild osteopenia about 4 years ago, just before I started bioidentical hormones, exercising regularly (and it has to be resistance/weight training, just walking won't help and neither will swimming--although each has its benefits), Vitamin D3, and eating healthier (I'm not perfect but way better than I used to be). I had a repeat bone density test done in the summer of 2009---and it showed that not only do I no longer have osteopenia, but that my bone density was comfortably in the normal range. Both Dr. Carr and my pain management doctor, Mark Hines, were thrilled!

I just had a Vitamin D test done with my regular blood work, and it showed that my level was 62 ng/mL (and that was after a summer of being out in the condo pool at least 4 days a week for 45 minutes, and 5000 IUs of Vitamin D daily). Dr. Carr likes his patients to be at a range of 70-100 ng/mL, so I am now on 10,000 IUs daily at least through the winter.