Getting the jump on osteoporosis - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Doctors call osteoporosis the silent disease. Our bones weaken and we don't know it until something breaks. One central Indiana woman was determined to change her fate.

"I'm constantly on the go doing something," Murph Damron, 66, explained. "I'm not too good at sitting around."

Murph Damron's latest project is helping plan a first: a new 2013 New Year's Eve celebration at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

She has about half a dozen similar events to organize this year, and when she learned she had osteoporosis, she tackled that, too.

"It was like, I want to take action and do what I can to prevent myself from having a hunched back or not being able to walk or being crippled. That is just not my lifestyle. I'm not real good with canes and walkers," she said.

The diagnosis was made with the help of a DXA scan, which looked at her shoulder and hip area to determine at score that quantifies her bone density.

"We see that many many people aren't getting their scans and I don't know if it is partly because of cost or just awareness or just one of those things that doctors are not ordering," said Dr. Jack Moss, St. Vincent radiologist.

As bones deteriorate, the structure is lacy and weak, and prone to breaking. In seniors that can be deadly.

"We know that many, many people lose their lives just on the basis of having had an osteoporotic fracture," said Dr. Moss.

Murph is a classic case. She has a family history; she has a petite frame and likely did not consume enough calcium in key years to strengthen her bones.

"It could have been during my modeling days," she said. "I never was a big hearty eater because I didn't want to get fat because I was modeling."

Now that modeling is over, Murph has a better diet and stays active. With the help of medication her diagnosis has improved to more mild osteopenia. Her risk of fracture has dropped.

"I just feel so much more positive now that all of this has been done and I've gone from porosis to pena. That is a great relief," she said.

It's one less worry - all because she got checked, and made changes that lessened her health risks and improved her ability to pursue her passions.