Arthrosis and osteoporosis

The relationships between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are very intriguing and debated. In the Western populations there is evidence of osteoarthritis in about 80% of individual above 70 years of age, while osteoporosis affects one third of postmenopausal women. Studies on bone mineral density measured by absorptiometry in subjects with osteoarthritis have yielded conflicting results. Recently it has been described the presence of remarkable anthropometric differences between women with postmenopausal osteoporosis and women with generalized osteoarthritis. Other authors have also analyzed bone biopsies from the iliac crest showing a significant increase of bone mass in the osteoarthritic subjects. These and other results suggest that caution is needed when interpreting the values of bone mineral density in the lumbar area of patients with osteophytosis, due to the possibillity of false negative results. Data showing a generalized increase in bone mineral density in individuals with osteoarthritis stimulate further research on the hypothesis that primitive osteoarthritis can represent a generalized bone disorder