DEXA question

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jemhh
jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
If you have had a DEXA, would you mind telling your total BMC as listed on your report?

I had a DEXA done in August and once it was done the tech said "I can give you the report but I can't explain anything to you," which was unhelpful of course. I'm getting back to it now and trying to figure out the numbers. It looks like my BMC, which I take to mean bone mineral content, is 6.02 pounds. Wouldn't BMC be the weight of my skeleton? I keep reading that our bones make up around 15% of our bodyweight? I must be misunderstanding something.

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  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    I'll look at mine at home, but I remember it was lighter than I expected. I think around 6-8lbs.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    BMC on mine from 18 months ago is 3.590 grams. BMC is bone mineral content Sum of all skeletal tissue within the body measured by the densitometer (from here http://www.bonewellness.com/dexa/dexa-terminology/ ), so it does sound like BMC is your total skeletal weight. I'm not sure as I never had my scan fully explained, just the BF% bits.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Double post. Thanks slow-*kitten* internet!
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    zyxst wrote: »
    BMC on mine from 18 months ago is 3.590 grams. BMC is bone mineral content Sum of all skeletal tissue within the body measured by the densitometer (from here http://www.bonewellness.com/dexa/dexa-terminology/ ), so it does sound like BMC is your total skeletal weight. I'm not sure as I never had my scan fully explained, just the BF% bits.

    Is that 3,590? Are you doing that fancy period/comma switching thing? :blush:
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Bumping for more input from afternoon/evening crowd.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    According to mine BMC is your dry mineral bone content

    Typical content for a woman is 1.5-2.5kg and for men 2.5-3.5 kg

    They say

    But again it depends on the calibration on the machine I would assume, none of the ranges I saw on mine,matched the Google charts I've seen (which mainly came from the us)
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    According to mine BMC is your dry mineral bone content

    Typical content for a woman is 1.5-2.5kg and for men 2.5-3.5 kg

    They say

    But again it depends on the calibration on the machine I would assume, none of the ranges I saw on mine,matched the Google charts I've seen (which mainly came from the us)

    But what is dry mineral bone content? I'm trying to figure out what exactly that means. Does that mean your bones without the marrow? I'm confused because I keep reading that our bones make up 15% of our bodyweight. For me that would be around 22 lbs. Where are the other 16 pounds?
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    BMC on mine from 18 months ago is 3.590 grams. BMC is bone mineral content Sum of all skeletal tissue within the body measured by the densitometer (from here http://www.bonewellness.com/dexa/dexa-terminology/ ), so it does sound like BMC is your total skeletal weight. I'm not sure as I never had my scan fully explained, just the BF% bits.

    Is that 3,590? Are you doing that fancy period/comma switching thing? :blush:

    Comma is in the right place. It's about 7#.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    zyxst wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    zyxst wrote: »
    BMC on mine from 18 months ago is 3.590 grams. BMC is bone mineral content Sum of all skeletal tissue within the body measured by the densitometer (from here http://www.bonewellness.com/dexa/dexa-terminology/ ), so it does sound like BMC is your total skeletal weight. I'm not sure as I never had my scan fully explained, just the BF% bits.

    Is that 3,590? Are you doing that fancy period/comma switching thing? :blush:

    Comma is in the right place. It's about 7#.

    Thanks! How tall are you, btw?
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,070 Member
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    Ok, BMC on mine is only 4lbs!
  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
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    Male. 5'9". Mine was 5.6 lbs. Don't even know what BMC is exactly.