Effect of obesity on osteoporosis: A DEXA scan-based report in urban population of Belagavi

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity and osteoporosis are two major emerging challenges. Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as an index of the degree of obesity. Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by excessive skeletal fragility and susceptibility to low-trauma fracture among the elderly, it is typically defined in an individual with a bone mineral density (BMD) T-score, that is, 2.5 or more and standard deviations (SD) below normal (T-score ≤ -2.5). Aims and Objectives: To examine association between BMI and BMD among the urban population of Belagavi, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methods: 500 patients, 25 years of age and above, who underwent Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scan from the period of June 2013 to May 2015 in KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belagavi, Karnataka, India, were divided according to BMI (kg/m 2 ) and age groups: 25-39 years, 40-59 years, and 60 and above. Results: (1) Overweight people are less osteopenic and less osteoporotic than normal people. (2) Older people have low BMI. (3) Older people have low BMD. (4) Females have high BMI. (5) Females have low BMD. Conclusion: BMD was found to be significantly higher in overweight patients as compared to the BMD of the normal weight category. In addition, significant negative correlation between age and BMI was observed. Age and BMD correlated negatively as well. Females were found to be more obese and osteoporotic than males, signaling toward the culprit - Estrogen. Further studies are required to investigate the effect of other factors such as exposure to sunlight, calcium intake, and other habits like smoking and diet.

Keywords

• Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)
• obesity
• osteopenia
• osteoporosis