Study: Osteoarthritis Does Not Protect Older Women Against Osteoporosis

Older women may suffer from both osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, according to a study reported in the December issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

This finding by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School contradicts other studies that have suggested that people with osteoarthritis are less likely to suffer a hip fracture due to osteoporosis.

The researchers studied 68 postmenopausal women with advanced osteoarthritis who were awaiting total hip replacement. Seventeen or 25 percent of them had osteoporosis and 15 or 22 percent had a deficiency of vitamin D.

The researchers concluded that a substantial portion of the study participants with osteoarthritis of the hip had osteoporosis and a vitamin D deficiency. However, they noted that the deficiency was not restricted to the group with osteoporosis since only two of them had it.

"Our findings clearly reject the hypotheses that all osteoarthritic women are protected against bone loss and that they are protected during the early postmenopausal period," the researchers concluded.

However, the researchers emphasized that a need exists for clinicicans to consider the presence of both osteoporosis and vitamin-D deficiency in women with advanced osteoarthritis, noting that the latter can be easily and inexpensively corrected.

Other sources: Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 85:2371-2377 (2003)