Endocrine Abstracts

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterised by low bone mass and susceptibility to fracture. Preventive strategies against osteoporotic fracture can be targeted throughout the life course. Although there is evidence to suggest that peak bone mass is inherited, current genetic markers are able to explain only a small proportion of the variation in individual bone mass or fracture risk. Evidence has begun to accrue that fracture risk might be modified by environmental influ...

Osteoporosis constitutes a major public health problem through its association with age-related fractures. These fractures typically occur at the hip, spine and wrist. Our research into osteoporosis at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit over three decades has characterised the epidemiology of these fractures, and contributed to the generation of preventive strategies against them throughout the lifecourse. Around 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men in the UK will sustain an osteopor...

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with an increased risk of fractures in excess of what would be expected from age and BMD. Further, DM is associated with increased risk of mortality in patients with hip fractures and possibly also other osteoporotic fractures.Study population and methods: Patients aged 50 or over who were treated for fractures of the hip, forearm, humerus and spine over 6 years (2004–2009, n=146 256) not coded as road t...

Background: Children who are overweight and obese have a higher incidence of fracture, but it is unknown if this varies by fracture site. Indeed, obesity in adult women protects against forearm fracture, but increases the risk of humeral fractures. We aimed to determine if adiposity differed by fracture site in children with upper limb fractures.Methods: Children aged 3–18 years were recruited within 60 days of fracture. Height, weight, waist circum...

Background: Glucocorticoids are frequently used to treat childhood inflammatory disorders, and may cause increased fracture predisposition with reduced bone mineral density (BMD), particularly from trabecular bone loss. The contribution of the underlying inflammatory disease processes to these outcomes is poorly understood. Childhood nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a useful model to investigate the effects of steroids on bone, as recurrent courses are often required, but systemic i...

Objectives: Fracture risk is increased in individuals with diabetes mellitus, but how this is related to bone mineral density (BMD), adiposity, inflammation, disease duration and diabetic complications is less well understood. We aimed to investigate associations between type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 (T2DM) diabetes and incident fracture in a large population study.Methods: UK Biobank is a population study incorporating indiv...

Introduction: Maternal diet during pregnancy has been linked to offspring body composition, but the specific nutrients and mechanisms involved are not well understood. Higher n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status is associated with lower risk of adiposity in adults, whereas n-6 PUFA are adipogenic. The effect of maternal PUFA in determining offspring body composition is unknown.Method: We evaluated the relationships between maternal ...