Link between coronary heart disease and osteoporosis identified

A new study has identified a potentially clinically useful link between coronary heart disease and osteoporosis.

The University of Southampton research has determined that people with a history of heart disease had substantially lower cortical volumetric bone mineral density in their wrist bone than those without.

A state-of-the-art technique called high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography was used to visualise multiple layers of the wrist bone in 350 men and women between the ages of 70 and 85.

Cortical volumetric bone mineral density was lower among participants with forms of coronary heart disease such as angina, heart attack or heart failure, with the effect being more prominent in women than in men.

Dr Julien Paccou, clinical research fellow at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton, said: "In essence, this work and others show that people with a history of cardiovascular disease tend to have weaker bones. There is a need to better understand this association to improve bone health."

This represents one of the first studies to use this technology to explore bone geometry, density and microstructure in patients with heart disease.