Grandson's bone health linked to grandfather

[Posted: Mon 01/02/2010 by Deborah Condon - www.irishhealth.com]

Men beware – if your grandfather suffered a hip fracture, you may be at an increased risk of suffering from one too, the results of a new study indicate.

Researchers have shown, for the first time, a link between hip fractures in elderly men and impaired bone health in their grandsons.

“This is the first time this risk factor for low bone mass has been demonstrated across two generations. This new risk factor may be significant for the diagnosis of low bone mass and suggests possible mechanisms for the inheritance of low bone mass and fracture risk,” explained lead researcher, Prof Mattias Lorentzon of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

The study involved some 3,700 grandparents and their grandsons. Of the grandsons, 270 had reduced bone density, in other words, less bone mineral in their skeleton. The researchers noted that all of these had a grandparent who had broken their hip.

“We then divided these men with reduced bone density into two groups. In the first, we looked at those who had a grandmother who had broken a hip. In the second, we looked at whether a grandfather had suffered a hip fracture,” Prof Lorentzon said.

The study revealed that the men who had a male relative who had suffered a fracture had up to 5% less bone density and 4% smaller bones than those who did not. The researchers pointed out that having just 10% less bone density can increase the risk of fractures by as much as threefold.

Other risk factors which affect bone health, such as smoking, calcium intake and gender, were taken into account for the study.

“Despite these other risk factors, we could see that bone size is reduced and that this leads to lower bone density, which together means low bone mass – a risk factor for osteoporosis. In other words, they run a greater risk of fractures in the future than their peers,” Prof Lorentzon said.

The researchers hope that the findings lead to improvements in the identification of patients at increased risk of osteoporosis. Currently in Ireland, osteoporosis affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50.

“It’s important for health professionals to ask whether grandparents have had hip fractures. This is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis,” Prof Lorentzon added.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

For more information on osteoporosis, click here