No abstract

Osteoporosis is a silent, progressive disease affecting millions of Americans, costing $23.5 billion annually (). Fragility fractures, painful and costly sequelae of osteoporosis, are frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated partially because of limited assessment measures. Currently, bone mineral density measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry is the surrogate marker of bone health () but has shortcomings predicting fragility fractures. Bone turnover markers and magnetic resonance spectroscopy are promising techniques for earlier, more accurate assessment of bone physiology and structure. Bone turnover markers reflect the dynamic nature of living bone (), thus providing a more comprehensive picture of bone health. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy may hold predictive power in determining fast and slow bone mineral density losers (). The use of these tools may assist with diagnosis of osteoporosis, allowing earlier determination of the effectiveness of prescribed therapies to improve bone health.

After reading this article and taking this test, the reader should be able to: 1. Identify signs and symptoms of herpes zoster. 2. Describe herpes zoster complications and treatment. 3. Discuss means of preventing herpes zoster.

This article discusses the incidence, epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of herpes zoster, complications such as postherpetic neuralgia, and prevention through vaccination. Information on vaccine cost and insurance coverage is provided as well as two case studies illustrating various clinical presentations.

, in a similar position from 1996 to 1999. Her research interests are split between technical investment in the development of signal processing architectures, array platforms, and other infrastructures for visual, auditory, and chemical-sensing microsystems and equivalent interest in engineering education, with particular emphasis on affective and metacognitive factors that influence student success in STEM fields.