Bone Abstracts

For many years obesity has been considered to be protective against fragility fractures, since low BMI contributes to fracture risk. However, recent studies indicate that obese women represent a subset of patients with low-trauma fractures. In fact, obesity increases the risk of fracture at specific sites such as ankle, upper and lower leg and predictably, proximal humerus. By contrast, wrist, hip and pelvis fracture rates are lower in obese women. Interestingly, the majority ...

Anorexia nervosa (AN) occurs in 0.2–1% of adolescent girls and is characterized by physiological and adaptive changes in the various endocrine axes. Changes also occur in many hormones secreted or regulated by fat (a reflection of energy stores) that can impact bone. The physiological changes observed in various endocrine axes in AN in turn cause impaired bone accrual rates, low bone density (associated with increased marrow fat) and impaired bone microarchitecture. This ...

The epidemiological evidence is clear that higher body weight is protective against most fractures in adults. However, the same may not be true in children. Understanding the mechanisms of interaction of fat and bone may give useful insights into underlying physiology for prevention of fracture.In general, higher body weight in adults is associated with higher bone mineral density and is protective against fracture, but may be associated with an increase...