the real purpose of osteoporosis treatment is to decrease future bone fractures. one density measurement taken during treatment will not help the doctor plan or modify your osteoporosis treatment. for example even if the dxa scan shows continued deterioration in bone density during treatment there is not yet research data demonstrating that changing a medication combining medications or doubling medication doses will be safe and helpful in decreasing the future risk of fractures. it's important to note that even if bone density deteriorates during treatment it is quite likely that the patient would have lost even more bone density without treatment. recent research has shown that women who lose bone density after the first year of menopausal hormone replacement therapy will gain bone density in the next two years whereas women who gain in the first year tend to lose density in the next two years of therapy. therefore bone density during treatment naturally fluctuates and this may not be relevant to the fracture protection of the medication. for all of these reasons as surprising as it may sound to many people (and even some doctors) rechecking bone density is not at all like checking blood pressure during treatment of high blood pressure (hypertension). routine bone density testing during treatment is unlikely to be helpful. in the future however if ongoing research brings new technology or new therapies testing decisions could change.
what's the purpose of osteoporosis treatment to increase bone density?