Why everyday stress can make MS symptoms worse

[Prot]

Copilot AI


Here’s the clear, evidence‑based distinction, Tim — and it’s simpler than it first appears.
Are “premature osteoporosis” and osteopenia the same?


No — they’re not the same, although they sit on the same spectrum of bone‑density loss.
Key difference

• Osteopenia = mild to moderate reduction in bone mineral density. It’s below normal but not low enough to be osteoporosis.
• Osteoporosis = more severe loss of bone density, with a significantly increased fracture risk.

So what is “premature osteoporosis”?


“Premature osteoporosis” isn’t a formal diagnostic category — it’s a descriptive phrase used when someone develops osteoporosis earlier than expected for their age.
It still means osteoporosis, not osteopenia.
The “premature” part refers to timing, not severity.
How they relate


You can think of it as a progression:

Osteopenia	Lower‑than‑normal bone density	Mild–moderate	Slightly increased
Osteoporosis	Bone density low enough to weaken bone structure	Severe	High
Premature osteoporosis	Osteoporosis occurring earlier than typical	Same severity as osteoporosis	High

Sources:

If you want, I can also walk you through how DEXA scores define each category, or how clinicians distinguish early‑onset osteoporosis from secondary causes.



I take Accrete D3.

[agate]

I can consult all of the material I've accumulated on osteoporosis for the bone density test (DEXA) particulars, I'm sure. Or ask AI. Thank you for clarifying the difference between premature osteoporosis and osteopenia.

I try to keep the osteopenia on a back burner when I think about why I have a certain pain or deformity (back severely out of shape, for instance). Since not a whole lot can be done about it, given my age, I try not to think about it and instead focus on ways to make it easier to do things I have to do.

Do you ever get the feeling that every little thing you do is becoming a challenge?

For instance today two large containers of food came my way--a charitable donation to this building that happens from time to time here, if some resident signs up for it. It included a frozen turkey (about 12 lbs.), several frozen items, an acorn squash, rather hefty bags of potatoes, apples, and onions, rolls, and several packaged and canned items. The challenge for me was to transport them down the hall to the community room and put them on a table in there.

But before doing that, I had the added challenge of how to get the items out of the box--especially the bags of produce, in net bags. The box was set on a kitchen counter but I couldn't reach in and pull these bags (or the turkey) out easily at all. I had to think the whole process through and figure out what angle to approach each one of those items so as to be able to pull them up and out.

I'm not good at pulling anything up and out. Another challenge (and this is truly ridiculous) is pulling the blanket off before getting out of bed. My right (dominant) arm and hand just do not want to do that.

And here I've been lifting 2-lb. weights 15 times, three times a week for quite a while. Maybe I'm doing the wrong exercise.

[Prot]

My biggest challenge is doing as much as I can without setting off level 6-7 pain. I'm OK for about 10 minutes. A frustrating, though perhaps trivial,one - ring pulls on cans! I don't see your difficulty with the blanket as being any more 'ridiculous' than that.

[agate]

Amazon has some offerings but none of them looks anything like the little gadget I've been using for those ring pulls. Trouble is, I don't know what it's called. A pharmacy gave it to me as an aid in opening the blister packs that some pharmacies are packaging pills in lately.

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I looked up the pharmacy's Website trying to find the name of this gadget but the pharmacy has closed. It occurs to me that a smallish ordinary screwdriver might do what this gadget does, and in fact I recall using one sometimes for those ring-pull cans. I open several of them a day and so it's been an issue for me. I drink Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi instead of coffee or tea. Yes, two-liter bottles are cheaper but they're harder to handle.

You can pry the ring-pull up with the screwdriver blade if the screwdriver isn't too big. The gadget I hae works on that principle. It's just a long thin piece of plastic, about 2 inches long, with a tiny flat piece of metal on the end of it, looking a bit like a screwdriver blade, and that is what pries the ring-pull up so you can get at it better.

[Prot]

I use the long handle of a spoon, thanks to a video my oldest granddaughter sent me. It's not perfect, but it works better than not using it.

[agate]

I've used that too.

I might be on the way to solving my bathing/showering problem, which is mainly difficulty getting in and out of the bathtub. Entirely by lucky chance, yesterday the maintenance man was here--he's on loan to us occasionally from another building, and one never knows when he will appear here. He probably confused me with someone else because he asked me if I'd filled out the "RA" forms yet. I had no idea what that was.

It's a form for a "reasonable accommodation," which is what happens if a resident has a medical need for an accommodation to the apartment that requires considerable expense and change.

He said he thought I'd asked for a cut-away bathtub. Actually when I fell a couple of years ago while stepping out of the bathtub, I had asked the manager about it and learned that the times that had been done in this building hadn't turned out well because there were problems wiith getting the job done right.

He looked at my bathtub, pronounced it easy, and so now I'm beginning the process of making this happen. The manager gave me an elaborate 4-page form that I had to fill out very accurately and then she would send it to the doctor. I was asked to notify the doctor in advance, which I did, and received a prompt reply that the doctor would have no problem filling out the form but only if she just had to sign it. If she had to answer any questions on it, she'd need to see me.

So since there are a couple of questions, I'll have to wait until I see her, but that will be in mid-January. I'm sure there will be quite a wait after that while the request gets processed, and then materials and an installer have to be lined up and scheduled.

I don't much mind if I have to wait until warmer weather because there will be fumes from this project, and I will need to keep windows open for a while. Not my favorite thing to do just now when it's cold.

They don't install a whole new tub. They cut away part of its wall so that you step right into the tub, over a little ledge that is a few inches high. Some of these modified bathtubs have a door but this wouldn't.

I'll believe this when it happens.

[Prot]

agate That sounds great. My late wife had a bath seat that could be lowered and raised with remote control. It made having a bath much easier and safer for her.

[agate]

That remote-controlled lifting system sounds very impressive!

I've pretty much talked myself into being content with sponge baths for the time being. I don't really expect this to happen because the building management company is very reluctant to spend money on such things. Luckily I don't think I get very dirty on a typical day now that I'm so very sedentary.

[Prot]

Not so 'impressive' .I misremembered. Had controls, but they weren't 'remote'.

[agate]

Getting up and down while in the bathtub is a really creaky procedure these days. The special cushion I paid $$$ for hasn't worked so well. It's probably fine for someone more agile than I am. I might give it a few more tries but suspect I'll have the same problems.

In lowering or raising myself from the bath water, my legs (usually just one of them) will cramp up to the point where I have to struggle hard to prevent falling.

I'll stop this whining now long enough to ask about the holiday just past. What did everyone do? Any special food consumed? Events attended or watched on the tube?

[Prot]

Had Christmas dinner at my daughter's. It was a large and tasty meal. She gave me some to have the next day as well. Her boyfriend was there. He's a good person, but rivals me when it comes to being anxious. I asked to be taken home after a couple of hours. Not because I wanted to,but because I needed to go to the toilet- and would not have been able to manage her stairs.I haven't watched any TV. My daughter has just been round with a large amount of party food for me to snack on. I got 2 pairs of fleecy pyjamas, a large 3 in 1 body wash, and a kit to upgrade my My Heritage DNA results, for Christmas.

[agate]

That sounds like a good daughter. Glad you had an outing at least even if you had to cut it short.

As for the stairs problem, when I saw the house my son and DIL had acquired (about 9 years ago) and saw that the ground floor had no bathroom, and to get to a bathroom a person has to go up one flight of stairs or else down one flight, I realized that I probably wouldn't be there very often. I think I was there only once since then.

The stairs aren't many of steep--only about 9-12 steps per staircase but the handrails at the top are very iffy. I offered my opinion on the handrail situation but I doubt that anyone heard me.

They were here the day before Christmas--son, DIL, grandson--and we had a nice time with laughter and the refreshments I put out, including a special chocolate a neighbor had given me that is really exceptionally good. The brand is Merci, which I'd never heard of.

My grandson seemed surprisingly pleased with the one gift I was sure he'd be disappointed by--a set of small magnetic blocks that had colorful images on them. Just seeing how delighted he looked when he opened that present and saw what it was made my day.

[clouds z]

A person can get addicted to social media apparently. The big news yesterday was that in Australia they're prohibiting anyone under age 16 from using the social media.

all true i guess