In Brief: Even mildly impaired kidney function can affect bone health
In Brief
Even mildly impaired kidney function can affect bone health
Women suffer two-thirds of the 300,000 hip fractures that occur each year in the United States. According to a study in the Jan. 22, 2007, Archives of Internal Medicine, poor kidney function may be a factor.
Doctors have long recognized a link between advanced kidney disease (the kind requiring dialysis) and fractures, but this is the first study to show such a connection with milder forms of kidney impairment. Drawing on data from 9,700 women participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, investigators compared three groups: women who experienced hip fractures, those who developed vertebral fractures, and a control group. Kidney function (normal, mildly impaired, or moderately impaired) was determined by blood levels of creatinine, a waste product filtered by the kidneys.
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