The laboratory evaluation of osteopenia.

Osteopenia is being increasingly recognized as an important cause of morbidity and mortality, and as the cause of a massive health care expense. This realization, and a much greater understanding of mineral and bone metabolism, has resulted in an increase in the sophistication of diagnostic methods. The clinician faced with the problem of osteopenia can rely on the laboratory to facilitate the evaluation of the state of mineral metabolism and, when necessary, to assess the character of bone remodelling.