Bone mineral content in epileptics.

The bone mineral content in the forearms was measured in 71 epileptics, admitted to an institution for epileptics. The mineral content was decreased in epileptics as compared with age-matched normal controls. The decrease was in the order of 10--15% except in the distal end of the forearm in women. Also, the strength of the hand and forearm was decreased by 1/3 and since there is a known relationship between strength and bone mineral content, the loss of bone mineral may be secondary to the loss of strength. Therefore, inactivity could be an important contributory factor to the bone mineral loss in these epileptics.