Influence of obesity on bone mineral density in postmenopausal asthma patients undergoing treatment with inhaled corticosteroids.
OBJECTIVE
The etiology of osteoporosis in asthma is complex as various factors contribute to its pathogenesis. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects of obesity and inhaled steroids, as well as the severity and duration of asthma, on osteoporosis in postmenopausal asthma patients as compared to healthy controls.


METHODS
A total of 46 patients with asthma and 60 healthy female controls, all postmenopausal, were enrolled in our study. Bone mineral density was assessed at the lumbar spine and hip using a Lunar DPX-L densitometer.


RESULTS
Bone mineral density (BMD) scores were comparable between the asthmatic and control groups, with average scores of 0.95 +/- 0.29 and 0.88 +/- 0.14 g/cm(2), respectively. Likewise, osteoporosis was diagnosed in a similar percentage of patients in the asthmatic (39.1%) and control (43.3%) groups. Bone fracture was identified in four patients with asthma (8.6%) and in six patients from the control group (10%). We could not detect any relationship between BMD and duration of asthma, asthma severity, inhaled steroids or body mass index (BMI). There was no difference between the two groups with respect to age or years since menopause. Although asthma patients were more likely to be overweight and presented higher BMD scores on average than the control subjects, these differences were not statistically significant.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a slight positive protective effect of high BMI against osteoporosis in asthma patients, but this effect is overcome by time and menopause status. Therefore, the protective effect of obesity against osteoporosis in asthma patients seems to not be significant.
Yanik
Burcu
B
Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Fatih University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Ayrim
Aylin
A
Ozol
Duygu
D
Koktener
Asli
A
Gokmen
Derya
D
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000139:chemically induced*; D017698:Postmenopause; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents