(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, or COPD, may also be at higher risk for developing osteoporosis, report
researchers who studied 81 patients with the lung disease and 38 healthy people
who served as controls.
They found one-third of the COPD patients met the criteria for osteoporosis.
That compared to just 13 percent of the healthy controls. About 80 percent of
the patients had some signs of previously undiagnosed bone thinning, either
osteoporosis or osteopenia -- a precursor to osteoporosis.
The presence of osteoporosis in the group was also linked to loss of fat-free
mass, which can occur in COPD patients even if they maintain a normal body mass
index. In this study, 17 patients were found to have lower-than-normal fat-free
mass while still having normal BMIs. Further investigation linked elevated
markers of cellular protein breakdown with both body composition and lung
disease severity.
The authors conclude loss of fat-free mass and bone mineral density are
related, as are urinary markers of cellular and bone collagen protein breakdown.
These factors combine to support the association between the disease and bone
thinning.
They write, “With the predicted worldwide increase in COPD and the personal,
clinical and fiscal implications of progressive disability and secondary
complications, such as hip and spinal fractures, the identification of patients
with undetected bone disease and a high risk of osteoporosis is of considerable
importance.”
SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine,
2004;170:1286-1293
