Osteoporosis is often called the Rottweiler disease because it chews up your bones fast. And it's sneaky. You won't have a clue that your bones have been quietly getting brittle until you trip over the dog's water bowl and break your wrist or fracture your hip.

Getting a clue early enough to do something about it is the whole point of having something called a bone mineral density test, which checks out the sturdiness of your skeleton. Who should have one of these, and when? Age, sex, family, and "it depends" are part of the answer. (Aren't they always?)

If bones that snap like toothpicks run in your family (or if you're underweight or you overdo alcohol), you should get your skeleton scanned by age 50 or earlier. If not, docs urge women to have the test around menopause and definitely by 65. Men should get it by then, too; osteoporosis doesn't know from sexual discrimination.

No worries about the process. As medical tests go, this one's a gem: It's fast, painless, very safe, and doesn't cost the moon. Figure about 15 minutes for a DXA scan… (DXA or DEXA stands for Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry if you like to know these things). DXA scans are the gold standard for assessing your bones' mineral content and bone density, the most frequently used measure for bone strength. If your insurance doesn't cover DXA, it will run about $200.

An FDA approved test, the "gold standard" for measuring body composition. A minimal amount of radiation, safe even for infants. The test takes only 20 minutes, fully clothed. It measures total fat, bone and muscle as well as individual regions. Produces individual results of goal weight, estimated metabolism, calories burned.

The test results includes your scores on each of the 43 chemistries including lipids, HDL cholesterol, thyroid, etc. Also includes the new C-reactive protein (CRP) test. The CRP test was developed in response to findings that 50% of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. CRP is a better predictor of heart health than any form of cholesterol. Also provides a measure of the health of your  immune system.