Coronary artery disease and BMD | Arthritis Information

CAD linked to bone mineral density

21 April 2008

Study findings support earlier suggestions of a link between bone mineral density (BMD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) in both men and women.

Wilbert Aronow and colleagues from the New York Medical College in the USA retrospectively analyzed records for 198 patients who underwent coronary angiography to investigate chest pain and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans of the spine and left hip because of suspected osteoporosis or below-normal BMD (osteopenia).

Obstructive CAD was diagnosed if patients had greater than 50% stenosis of at least one major coronary artery.

As reported in the American Journal of Cardiology, 47% of patients with normal BMD had obstructive CAD, compared with 76% of patients with osteoporosis (p<0.005) and 68% of patients with osteopenia (p<0.01).

The CAD risk factors gender, age, previous myocardial infarction, current smoking, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity were similarly frequent among patients with osteoporosis, osteopenia, and normal BMD.

However, a significantly greater proportion of patients with normal BMD (86%) than with osteoporosis (70%) or osteopenia (72%) were taking statins at the time of the study (p<0.05 for both comparisons).

Stratifying the study group by gender revealed that the differences in prevalence of obstructive CAD between osteoporosis or osteopenia and normal BMD groups were significant among women but not men. The authors say the lack of significance among men is due to the small number of men in the study, comprising just 26% of the group.

They conclude: "On the basis of the available data, patients with osteoporosis or osteopenia should have intensive treatment of modifiable risk factors for CAD.

"This therapy should include strong consideration of statins."

< = value="http://www.ajconline.org/article/S0002-91490702475-7/abstract ">Am J Cardiol 2008; 101: 1103-1104
*whew* I'm glad my BMD was good!! I quit smoking!! and I'm working on the weight issue.......

we sure don't need to add kindling to our fires!