Medical Tests & Procedures Archive

Q. My doctor has recommended a bone density screening, but the medical center with the full-body scanner is a 45-minute drive from my house. A health fair at a neighborhood church offers a bone density test using a foot scanner. Would that be as accurate?

A. The foot scan is called a quantitative ultrasound, and it usually measures the bone density of the heel bone.
It appears to be at least as good as clinical risk factors—such as older age, family history of bone fractures, low body mass index, smoking, corticosteroid use, and excessive alcohol consumption—for identifying people at high risk for osteoporosis.

For most people, there is no advantage to tests that measure cholesterol and triglyceride particle size.

Comprehensive exams and preventive care are the keys to eye health.

Known as non-obstructive coronary artery disease, this condition can trigger heart attacks down the road.

You just had a cardiac stress test and you passed with flying colors. Does that mean you are free of heart attack risk? Not necessarily, says Dr. Ron Blankstein, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

New guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force say that there’s no evidence vitamin D screenings help seemingly healthy people.

Exercise tests may include special scans that evaluate blood flow to your heart.

If you have chest discomfort, shortness of breath, or other symptoms that suggest heart disease, your doctor may recommend a stress test. Plaque buildup in your arteries may be limiting blood flow to your heart, which is more evident when the heart is stressed. In many cases, exercise provides the "stress"—you walk or run on a treadmill or pedal a stationary bike. If you're unable to exercise, a pharmacologic stress test (see box) is a good alternative.