Endocrine Abstracts

In this controlled study the BMD of Proximal femur in postmenopausal diabetic women were assessed in comparison to healthy postmenopausal controls.

BMD results from 65 postmenopausal women, aged 45-65 years old, with diabetes type 2, were compared with 65 age-matched controls. Bone densitometry from proximal femur (neck, Ward, trochanter) was performed using Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). Subjects were categorized as 'osteopenic-osteoporotic' if their femoral neck T score was below -1. Serum levels of HbA1c, calcium, phosphorus, and urinary calcium were also assessed.

Mean BMD value of Ward area in diabetic women was 0.644 ± 0.165 gm/cm2 versus 0.705 ± 0.138 gm/cm2 in controls (p=0.027) with the respective Tscore of -2.03 ± 1.24 and -1.53 ± 1.04 (p0.018). Trochanteric mean BMD in cases was 0.658 ± 0.21 gm/cm2 versus 0.737 ± 0.99 gm/cm2 in controls (p=0.01) with the respective T scores of -0.96 ± 1.05 and 0.47 ± 0.86 (p=0.006). The osteoporotic subgroup of diabetic patients showed higher levels of HbA1c, alkaline phosphatase, and 24-hour urinary calcium and sodium, but lower levels of serum calcium and phosphorus; however, the difference was not significant

There seems to be a significant decrease in Ward and trochanteric BMD values in diabetic patients, indicating that factors other than those in non diabetic women could affect their BMDs.