Even slight kidney impairment can speed up the loss of bone mineral density (BMD) among older people, putting them at risk of potentially disabling fractures, new research shows.

“Our findings highlight the importance of estimating kidney function when evaluating patients for fracture risk,” said Sophie A. Jamal, MD, PhD, of the University of Toronto and her colleagues in the February issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.




To better understand the relationship between more modest kidney impairment and bone loss, the researchers followed 191 men and 444 women age 50 and older for five years. They used two different techniques—estimated creatinine clearance and estimated glomerular filtration rate—to gauge patients’ kidney function at the beginning of the study. Study participants also had their BMD measured at the beginning of the study and five years later.


Jamal and her team found that the people with impaired kidney function lost BMD faster than those whose kidneys were working normally. For example, the study participants with the worst kidney function showed a 9.3% greater decrease in their lower spine BMD over a five-year period compared to those with normally functioning kidneys. The results were basically the same with either kidney function measure.



“Osteoporosis can lead to potentially disabling fractures of the spine and hip,” Jamal said. “Physicians should understand that even a slight decline of kidney function in their older patien