Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Low bone density is a frequent finding in both women and men of older age. There is not enough data about bone density in younger adults and especially men. In this study we measured bone density in healthy males per decade of age.

Method: We measured bone density (BMD), T-score, Z-score and body mass index (BMI) in 1902 healthy men, age 20–59 years old. The study population was divided into four groups according to their age: Group A 20–29 years old, Group B 30–39, Group C 40–49, Group D 50–59, and we compared the bone density between the groups. Mean age of the total study population was 39.4 years, mean weight 83.6 kg and mean BMI 26.5±3 kg/m². The mean BMD was 1.21±0.16 g/cm² and 1.05±0.22 g/cm² for the lumbar spine and the hip respectively.

Results: The BMDs per decade for the lumbar spine were as following: Group A 1.25±0.14 g/cm², Group A 1.25±0.14 g/cm², Group B 1.21±0.15 g/cm², Group C 1.20±0.16 g/cm² and Group D 1.17±0.18 g/cm². The BMDs for the hip were as following: Group A 1.15±0.28 g/cm², Group B 1.08±0.33 g/cm², Group C 1.01±0.12 g/cm² and Group D 0.98±0.12 g/cm². Statistical analysis showed that for each age group, there was statistically significant difference (P<0.05) comparing with the other age groups for the hip. However, in the spine this difference was observed only when comparing Group A with all other Groups. There was not any statistically significant difference between Groups B, C and D comparing with each other.

Conclusion: In healthy male population there is a progressive decrease in bone density according to age. This decrease is more obvious in the hip. In the lumbar spine there is also decrease but not statistically significant. One possible explanation is the appearance of osteophytes after the age of 50 which may falsely increase bone density.