Boots the chemists is to trial an in-store Osteoporosis Screening Service.

Boots trials in-store Osteoporosis Screening Service

A new service to detect the risk of the bone disease osteoporosis, which affects three times more women than breast cancer, may become available for the first time on the high street. Boots the Chemists is trialing a new in-store osteoporosis screening service that will be in selected stores in Bournemouth and Birmingham for two months during March and April 2007. This new service will offer Boots customers a painless, 10 minute bone density x-ray scan of the hip and spine whilst fully clothed, to identify their risk of osteoporosis.

The service will cost £95 and takes approximately 30 minutes in total including consultation, administration, screening and results. The scan itself is usually no more than 10 minutes.

The in-store scan will be performed by a qualified radiographer or nurse specially trained to use the specialist Dual Energy X-ray Absortiometry (DEXA) scanning system that uses less than one tenth of the x-rays used in a routine chest x-ray. Customers will receive their results straight after the scan and will be given advice about diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes as well as treatment options. They will also be advised to visit their GP to discuss the results if necessary.

Dr Chris says : "It will be interesting to see the results of this trial - it may be that this is a convenient and effective way for women to have themselves checked. I look forward to seeing how it all goes. If you've tried the service, please let us know what you thought about it".


This content was created on Sat 24 March 2007

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