Pre-existing fractures and bone mass predict vertebral fracture incidence in women

Article Abstract:

Osteoporosis is a disease primarily affecting postmenopausal women. With decreased blood levels of estrogen after menopause, women's bones become brittle and thin, and are more likely to fracture. Hip fractures are common and costly to treat, but other bones also fracture as a result of osteoporosis. Among these are the vertebrae, the individual bones of the spine. These fractures are often noted as incidental findings on X-rays done for other purposes. A study of over 1,000 Japanese-American women in Hawaii, 99 percent of whom were postmenopausal, was conducted to determine what risk factors were important in the development of vertebral fractures. The subjects all had studies of bone mass performed at the beginning of the analysis, as well as standard X-rays of their spines. Of the 1,000 women, 61 developed vertebral fractures during the eight-year study. Age, height, and previous spine disease such as arthritis, were not associated with an increased risk of spinal fracture, but decreased bone mass and pre-existing fractures at entry into the study were independent risk factors for vertebral fracture. However, the combination of low bone mass at baseline and two or more pre-existing vertebral fractures was associated with a 75-fold increased risk of subsequent fractures. This study demonstrated that these fractures are quite common; 60 percent of the subjects over the age of 80 years had one or more. Men are not exempt from osteoporosis; 25 percent of men over the age of 80 will have spinal fractures. By using a combination of knowledge of pre-existing fractures and bone mass measurements, physicians should be able to determine which of their patients are at greatest risk for future vertebral fractures, and initiate interventions that might prevent these injuries. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Bones, Complications and side effects, Risk factors, Bone density, Fractures (Injuries), Fractures, Vertebrae, Spinal fractures

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Alendronate and Estrogen--Progestin in the Long-Term Prevention of Bone Loss: Four-Year Results from the Early Postmenopausal Intervention Cohort Study

Article Abstract:

Postmenopausal women who take the drug alendronate may need to take it for many years. Alendronate is used to prevent osteoporosis. Researchers randomly assigned 1,609 postmenopausal women to take alendronate or placebo for two years. Then some women continued to take alendronate while others switched to a placebo for an additional two years. By the fourth year, women who took a placebo all four years had lost bone density. Women who took alendronate all four years had increased bone density. Women who switched after two years had smaller increases in bone density.

Evaluation, Prevention, Alendronate

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Prevalence of joint pain is higher among women in rural Japan than urban Japanese-American women in Hawaii

Article Abstract:

Since both populations are of similar genetic stock, the differences in degree of joint pain experienced by women in rural Japan and Japanese-American women in Hawaii seems probably due to environmental differences, although some cultural factors have not been formally ruled out. It is probable, however, that such a life involved in rural farming as compared to life in urban Hawaii demands stresses which would be responsible for the rural women's higher degree and incidence of knee pain as well as pain in the mid-back, shoulder, elbow, and ankle.

Health aspects, Joints, Injuries, Joints (Anatomy), Women, Medical examination, Demographic aspects, Shoulder pain, Knee, Women's health, Knee injuries

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