Friday, July 07, 2006

Diabetic Women Need Fracture Prevention Strategy

Diabetic women need fracture prevention strategy - Reuters.com

After 22 years of following women with type 1 or 2 diabetes, researchers detected a statistically significant increased risk of hip fracture amongst diabetic women, creating a need to develop fracture prevention strategies.

The Nurses' Health Study followed 109,983 women aged 34 to 59 years from 1980 to 2002. These women were surveyed about their history and treatment of diabetes and other potential risk factors for hip fracture. During the study 1.2% of the diabetic women fractured a hip in that 22 year period, which shows that hip fractures occur seven times higher in women with type 1 diabetes and almost twice as high in those with type 2 diabetes.

The study also found that the risk of hip fracture increased with insulin treatment. However, the role of insulin in hip fractures is still unclear. Some researchers believe that it my indicate a more severe disease process or insulin may exert negative effects on the bones, but more studies need to be done to figure out the role of insulin in fracture risk.

For more information about diabetes, visit American Diabetes Services.

No comments: