Osteoporosis and heart failure have been found to often go hand-in-hand, according to a new study involving elderly heart failure patients.
The degenerative bone condition is often undiagnosed and untreated in elderly patients suffering from heart failure.
Canadian researchers looked at 623 heart failure patients, average age 69, and found that 12 percent of them had moderate to severe compression fractures in the spine.
55 percent of those patients had multiple spinal fractures.
Spinal fractures are an indication of osteoporosis, but the investigators found only 15 percent of the heart failure patients with spinal fractures were being treated for osteoporosis.
The researchers concluded that heart failure patients who also had a heart rhythm disorder called atrial fibrillation were twice as likely to have spinal fractures as those with normal heart rhythms.
This was after the researchers had first taken into account a number of other risk factors for osteoporosis.
The study’s lead author is Dr. Kristin J. Lyons, a chief medical resident in the department of medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
She said in a news release, "Osteoporosis is an infrequently recognized and undertreated comorbidity of heart failure.”
Osteoporosis, a disease common in older women, weakens bones, making them more likely to break. Spinal fractures in heart failure patients are easily detected through chest X-rays.
The study’s senior author is Dr. Justin E. Ezekowitz, an assistant professor at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.
He said in the news release, "While reviewing chest X-rays to look at the heart and lungs, physicians also need to look carefully at the bones.”
"If fractures are found, patients need to be treated with dietary modification, exercise and, if indicated, osteoporosis medications. Treatment can reduce future fractures by as much as 50 percent," he added.
The authors stated it's possible that high levels of the hormone aldosterone might explain the relationship between chronic heart failure, osteoporosis and atrial fibrillation.
Nevertheless, they pointed out that future research could confirm or refute that theory.
They also acknowledge that their study has limitations.
For instance, the chest X-rays weren't specifically intended to diagnose spinal fractures, and the researchers didn't perform bone mineral density tests.
Bone mineral density tests are a common method of detecting osteoporosis.
The study is published May 10 in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.
