The Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Osteoporosis in Elderly Patients: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: The effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on bone are complex and the relationship of T2DM with BMD remains inconsistent across studies. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between osteoporosis and T2DM in elderly patients. Methods: Study design and setting: retrospective study was conducted in osteoporosis clinic in the primary health care center in Dubai health authority. Target population: elderly aged 60 y and above attended the osteoporosis clinic for screening in the primary health care centre in Dubai health authority. Results: The prevalence of osteoporosis in this study was 39.5%. The results showed that nondiabetic elderly had higher prevalence of osteoporosis in comparison to diabetic elderly (44.0% and 33.1%, respectively). This difference was statistically significant (P = 0.007). It was observed that males had higher femur and lumbar spine BMD in comparison with females. Conclusion: The investigations of the clinical relevance of osteoporosis in T2DM appear conflicting and to date no clear findings have been reached due to the inconsistent findings among researchers. Our data showed that nondiabetics were at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis than T2DM elderly. This finding is consistent with previous studies in Kuwait, Jordan and Iran which showed that T2DM is a promoter for bone health. Furthermore, studies have reported that magnesium deficiency is linked to osteoporosis, insulin resistance and Alzheimer's disease. This could explain that magnesium deficiency in nondiabetics increased the risk for osteoporosis compared to diabetic who consume appropriate magnesium through diet to prevent insulin resistance and therefore prevent osteoporosis. The prevalence of osteoporosis in this study was 39.5%. Our data showed that nondiabetics were at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis than T2DM elderly. BMD in femur was slightly lower than at lumbar spine. The study findings revealed that vitamin D and HBA1C were significantly higher in diabetic elderly.