The monitor shows your MRI scan.
See this magnified cross section of your
leg bone’s outer layer, curving like an
off-white, pearl-handle casing, its inner
space filled with grains the color of fine malt?
That hidden stratum is spongy, lightweight
like inside a pillow, yet strong. The fault
lies in the center: these ebony, slight
ragged tears are growing, porous spaces
weakening the bone, as if termites were
hollowing a baseball bat. Some cases
show older white women suffer fractures
while ballroom dancing. Why? The sad factor:
Caucasian females lose bone mass faster.
Roger Armbrust
August 23, 2007
