OSTEOPOROSIS AS A RISK FACTOR FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Cardiovascular disease and bone fractures caused by osteoporosis are the leading causes of death in older adults. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the correlation between overall risk of cardiovascular events and low bone density in postmenopausal women, and its impact on the incidence of major cardiovascular events. Our prospective study included 300 postmenopausal women. All those examined were divided into three groups depending on the measured bone tissue density: Group I – 84 examined with osteoporosis; Group II – 115 patients with osteopenia; and group III – 101 subjects with normal bone density. For all subjects, the overall ten-year risk of a fatal cardiovascular event was calculated using the SCORE system tables. Results. After 36 months of observation, cardiovascular diseases occurred in 19 (6.3%) subjects. Significant differences in the incidence of cardiovascular events were demonstrated between patients with osteoporosis, osteopenia and normal bone density (x2=28.7; p<0.001), as well as between patients with high and low cardiovascular risk (x2=22, 6; p). <0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking (2.23; 95% CI: 1.02–6.19; p=0.035) and an increase in total cardiovascular score (1.36; 95% CI: 1.17–1 .58; p<0.001) are related. with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, while an increase in T-score was associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular events (0.42; 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.73; p=0.002). Measurement of bone density with a standardized assessment of overall cardiovascular risk may be useful in selecting women in need of intensive prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.