The loss of bone mineral with aging and its relationship to risk of fracture (original) (raw)

Abstract

Longitudinal studies have shown that individuals lose bone mineral at unequal rates with aging. It has been postulated that individuals with the more rapid rates of loss constitute a separate population having an increased risk for developing fractures, i.e., osteoporosis. To examine this postulate, we made a search for a separate population of elderly women using a precise and objective measurement technique of bone mineral, photon absorptiometry. Bone mineral content (BMC) was measured in the radius of 571 Caucasian females who were age 50 or older. It was found that BMC values adjusted for width had a normal distribution in all decades and the variation in BMC values did not increase with age. Subjects with vertebral fractures (n = 108) were estimated to be losing bone mineral at the same rate as those without vertebral fractures (n= 161). Thus evidence for a separate population of rapid losers of bone mineral was not found. Reconciliation of longitudinal studies which show unequal rates of loss with the present population survey, in which evidence for unequal rates was not found, would require that (a) the rate of loss of bone mineral for an individual is not constant and/or (b) the rate of mineral loss is proportional to the amount of mineral present at maturity. The incidence of vertebral fractures was inversely proportional to BMC values. In a group of 278 women followed for 470 subject-yr, the incidence of all fractures during the study (n = 31) was also inversely proportional to BMC. These data suggest that the BMC values of osteoporotics would be at the lower end of normally distributed values for the population.

311

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams P., Davies G. T., Sweetnam P. Osteoporosis and the effects of ageing on bone mass in elderly men and women. Q J Med. 1970 Oct;39(156):601–615. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CAMERON J. R., SORENSON J. MEASUREMENT OF BONE MINERAL IN VIVO: AN IMPROVED METHOD. Science. 1963 Oct 11;142(3589):230–232. doi: 10.1126/science.142.3589.230. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Colbert C., Mazess R. B., Schmidt P. B. Bone mineral determination in vitro by radiographic photodensitometry and direct photon absorptiometry. Invest Radiol. 1970 Sep-Oct;5(5):336–340. doi: 10.1097/00004424-197009000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Davis M. E., Lanzl L. H., Strandjord N. M. Estrogens and the aging process. The detection, prevention, and retardation of osteoporosis. JAMA. 1966 Apr 18;196(3):219–224. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Garn S. M., Rohmann C. G., Wagner B. Bone loss as a general phenomenon in man. Fed Proc. 1967 Nov-Dec;26(6):1729–1736. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Goldsmith N. F., Johnston J. O., Picetti G., Garcia C. Bone mineral in the radius and vertebral osteoporosis in an insured population. A correlative study using 125-I photon absorption and miniature roentgenography. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1973 Sep;55(6):1276–1293. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldsmith N. F., Johnston J. O., Ury H., Vose G., Colbert C. Bone-mineral estimation in normal and osteoporotic women. A comparability trial of four methods and seven bone sites. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1971 Jan;53(1):83–100. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Griffiths H. J., Zimmerman R. E., Bailey G., Snider R. The use of photon absorptiometry in the diagnosis of renal osteodystrophy. Radiology. 1973 Nov;109(2):277–281. doi: 10.1148/109.2.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Iskrant A. P., Smith R. W., Jr Osteoporosis in women 45 years and over related to subsequent fractures. Public Health Rep. 1969 Jan;84(1):33–38. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Johnston C. C., Jr, Smith D. M., Yu P. L., Deiss W. P., Jr In vivo measurement of bone mass in the radius. Metabolism. 1968 Dec;17(12):1140–1153. doi: 10.1016/0026-0495(68)90094-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MURPHY E. A. ONE CAUSE?MANY CAUSES?THE ARGUMENT FROM THE BIMODAL DISTRIBUTION. J Chronic Dis. 1964 Apr;17:301–324. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(64)90073-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mazess R. B., Cameron J. R. Growth of bone in school children: comparison of radiographic morphometry and photon absorptiometry. Growth. 1972 Mar;36(1):77–92. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Newton-John H. F., Morgan D. B. The loss of bone with age, osteoporosis, and fractures. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1970;71:229–252. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Smith D. M., Johnston C. C., Jr, Yu P. L. In vivo measurement of bone mass. Its use in demineralized states such as osteoporosis. JAMA. 1972 Jan 17;219(3):325–329. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Smith D. M., Nance W. E., Kang K. W., Christian J. C., Johnston C. C., Jr Genetic factors in determining bone mass. J Clin Invest. 1973 Nov;52(11):2800–2808. doi: 10.1172/JCI107476. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]