Obese postmenopausal women with type II diabetes have similar values of bone mineral density to controls, measured by DXA and quantitative ultrasound at the heel: Data from the GIUMO study group.

Abstract

Introduction: Although it has been established that type I diabetes is associated to osteoporosis there is an important controversy about whether or not, type II diabetes mellitus produces bone loss in postmenopausal women and increases the risk of fractures. Overweight is commonly associated to type II diabetes and this could act as a protective factor against bone loss. Because of this, we have performed the present study on postmenopausal, obese women suffering from type II diabetes mellitus to assess bone mineral density (BMD)by two methods: Dual X‐Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS)

Matherial and Methods: Case‐Control study performed on 111 postmenopausal obese diabetic women and 91 controls without diabetes. BMD was measured by DXA at the lumbar spine and proximal femur and by quantitative ultrasound (QUS, measured at the heel. Means were compared after adjusting by age. Results are shown by means and 95% CI. SPSS program was used to compare the data. P value was stated at 5% (p< 0.05)

Results:Postmenopausal women suffering from type 11 diabetes have higher values of BMD at the lumbar spine than controls and similar values at the proximal femur. QUS values: BUA, SOS and QUI showed also no differences betweeen both groups. Conclusion: Type II diabetes produces no BMD loss either by DXA (at the lumbar spine and proximal femur) or by QUS at the heel. Indeed, patient group have higher BMD values by DXA at the lumbar spine than controls.