Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffWhile you may initially consult your family physician, he or she may refer you to a rheumatologist — a doctor who specializes in arthritis and other diseases of the joints, muscles and bones.
What you can do
You may want to write a list that includes:
- Detailed descriptions of your symptoms
- Information about medical problems you've had
- Information about the medical problems of your parents or siblings
- All the medications and dietary supplements you take
- Questions you want to ask the doctor
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor will want to know if there's anything in your medical history — such as celiac disease or gastric bypass surgery — that may increase your risk of vitamin D deficiency. He or she will ask about any pain you've been having, and may press on your bones to check for tender spots.
- Osteomalacia. In: Firestein S, et al. Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/121322005-3/806510556/1807/697.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3285-4..10092-0--s0200_3401. Accessed Feb. 19, 2009.
- Osteoporosis overview. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Osteoporosis/default.asp. Accessed Feb. 19, 2009.
- Menkes CJ. Clinical manifestations and etiology of osteomalacia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 19, 2009.
- Metabolic and endocrinologic problems: Osteomalacia. In: Barker LR, et al. Principles of ambulatory medicine. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2007:1444.
- Drezner MK. Osteomalacia and rickets. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/121322005-5/806576325/1492/956.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50270-6_12054. Accessed Feb. 19, 2009.
- Menkes CJ. Diagnosis and treatment of osteomalacia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 20, 2009.
- Calcium and vitamin D: Important at every age. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Bone_Health/Nutrition/default.asp. Accessed Feb. 20, 2009.
