Non-insulin-dependent diabetes, bone mineral density, and cardiovascular risk factors.

People with Type 2 diabetes have bone mass alterations and may have a higher risk of hip fractures. Moreover, they have increased cardiovascular risk factors. The objective of this paper is to investigate the association among non-insulin-dependent diabetes, bone mineral density (BMD), and cardiovascular risk factors. Ninety-two patients (36 males and 56 females) were studied and cardiovascular risk factors were measured: total cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose, HbA1c, and microalbuminuria. The densitometric studies were carried out in the calcaneal region using a DEXA densitometer. The diabetic women had a higher BMD than the control group (0.502 +/- 0.127 vs. 0.408 +/- 0.102, P = .027). The women showed a positive relationship between BMD and triglycerides (r =. 478, P = .0001) and a negative relationship with HDL-C (r = -.322, P = .016). The men had a BMD similar to that of the control group, and there was no relationship with the cardiovascular risk factors. When a multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed with the presence of osteoporosis as a dependent variable and each lipid level, age, sex, and BMI as independent variables, only age and BMI were found to be associated with the presence of osteopososis. The diabetic women had a higher BMD than the controls, and there was no relationship between osteoporosis and cardiovascular risk factors in diabetics.