Wendie Trubow, MD, MBA, IFMCPPresident at Five Journeys, Functional Medicine & Wellness Provider, Best Selling Author, Passionate Champion for Health

Prevent Osteoporosis Focus on Strength & Balance

13 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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1:09

In this brief dialogue, the speakers explain that while low bone density is a known risk factor for osteoporosis-related fractures, it accounts for only about 44% of fracture risk in women. They emphasize that fall risk—determined by muscle strength, joint function, balance, and overall stability—is an equally, if not more, critical factor. Citing a study, they note that bone density tests alone predict less than half of fractures, and when a person’s fall risk is low, the predictive power of bone density drops to just 5%. Consequently, maintaining muscle mass, strength, and balance is presented as a more effective strategy for preventing fractures than relying solely on bone density results.

Chapters

If people's bones are thin, that's a risk factor. But it's only a 44% risk factor in women. The other piece that is really important, though, is it's a fall risk. It's the muscles. It's the joints. It's the ability— like you said, are your muscles going to be limber? Are you going to be able to find balance? It's not just your bones. It's your whole body interacting with your bones.
That's correct. That's a great summary. To drive home the importance of strength, balance, and stability even more, let's compare that to the bone density test. So bone density test predicts less than half of people with osteoporosis who fracture. But a study looked at a couple of variables. They looked all at bone density tests, and they also looked at whether somebody was stable and steady on their feet, what their risk for falling was. When they, when their risk for falling was low, The ability of that bone density test to predict fractures went down to 5%. Your stability, your strength, your muscle mass, your balance is more important than your bone density test results in terms of your risk for fractures.