Endocrine Abstracts

Diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis are important comorbidities commonly seen in postmenopausal women. Diabetes can cause bone alterations that increases the risk of fractures. However, in patients with type 2 diabetes, bone mineral density (BMD) often appears not to be decreased, due to diabetes-induced increased weight and body fat mass, which can hamper densitometric assessment of osteoporosis and of fracture risks. The aim of the present study was to compare bone mineral density (BMD) in two samples of postmenopausal women with and without type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This was a cross-section study conducted at the Bologhine Hospital of Algiers (Algeria). The study group consisted of 195 women with type 2 diabetes, recruited from an original sample of 1062 patients (age>45 years) who were screened for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD and other relevant clinical data were compared to those of a control group (n=867) comprising the women who did not have diabetes.

Results: Women with type 2 diabetes had significantly higher mean lumbar spine BMD (0.9±0.1 vs 0.8±0.1, respectively, P<.0.019) than non-diabetic women. But no difference in mean femoral neck BMD (0.7±0.1 vs 0.7±0.1, respectively, P: 0.81) was observed. The proportion of osteoporotic women was 27.7% in the group of women with type 2 diabetes, vs 29.8% in the control group.

Conclusion: Our findings support those of other studies that found higher BMD in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to the general population.