Experts of the Hospital del Mar show suffering arthritis causes more fractures and more declines in postmenopausal women

the American College of Rheumatology selects a Catalan study for submission to the American press, the activities carried out at the annual scientific meeting of the Academy in Chicago

-postmenopausal women who have arthritis are 20% more risk for a fracture than women who do not have and suffer more falls 30%

-the study involves a change in paradigm because initially believed that arthritis protected patients from fractures, because it produces a few changes at the level of the joints, typical of the disease itself, which gives bones a more robust appearance

Barcelona, November 2011- A study led by researchers at the Hospital del Mar and its Research Institute, the IMIM, concluded that postmenopausal women with arthritis are 20% higher risk of bone fractures due to osteoporosis and a greater risk of falling – almost 30% – that postmenopausal women without arthritis. This study has been selected in the American College of Rheumatology annual scientific meeting and the results have been highlighted in press conference in Chicago.

The researchers of this study, which has included more than 60,000 women were proposed to discover if there was an association between arthritis, falls and fracture osteoporóticas in postmenopausal women. This study represents a paradigm shift: initially believed that arthritis protected these patients from fractures, arthritis produces a few changes at the level of the joints, typical of the disease itself, which gives bones a more robust appearance but, thanks to the study, has been that it is not and that the patients have large number of fractures. “Our data suggest that patients with arthritis have more robust bones, but this does not correlate with the reduction of fractures, but quite the opposite.” “Our results suggest that women with arthritis have an increased risk of falls and fractures osteoporóticas and, apparently, that the increase of falls is actually the cause of the greatest number of fractures that are suffering,” explains Dr. Adolf Díez, the study coordinator GLOW at the global level, along with Dr. Robert Lindsay the Columbia University “because the risk of fracture””in these women, if you have arthritis it is 12% and down to 9% if they don’t”. According to the results of the study, “probably in osteoarthritis, pain in joints and malfunctions may lead to alteration of the March and the balancing of the body and this could be the cause of an increased risk of falls and fractures osteoporotic”, says Daniel Prieto-Alhambra main researcher of the study. “Both arthritis and fractures are very frequent in the elderly, and the discovery of a partnership between the two is very important.” “Patients with osteoarthritis should be evaluated appropriately to prevent the risk of fracture, although the bones apparently will be larger and, according to some authors, stronger”, adds Dr. Díez.

The team of the DRS. Prieto-Alhambra and Díez has studied 60.393 women who were 55 years or older (2.910, studied in Barcelona) who had participated in the study GLOW (Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women), an international study carried out annually for three years, womenin a population healthy from several countries, including USA.UU., Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Spain and many others and has contributed to a deeper knowledge of Osteoporosis. Women who have participated in the study of GLOW, almost a third of them (32%) had a diagnosis of osteoporosis of these 40% had arthritis, 27% had previously suffered fractures, 15% had weight low, 38% had suffered falls recently and 18% had a family history of fracture of hip.

Arthritis is a disease articulate more common it affects middle-aged persons and older persons. In Spain it is estimated that there are about 5 million affected by this disease, characterized by progressive damage to the cartilage of the joints which, in turn, produces changes in the structures around them. These changes include accumulation of fluids, excessive bone growth, and loss of tone and weakness of the muscles and tendons, which may limit the movement and cause inflammation, pain and disability.