Hot Topics in Osteoporosis: BMI/BMD & Bone Loss in RA

Two studies that looked at the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and body mass index (BMI) as well as bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were presented at the 2018 American College of Rheumatology (ACR 2018) annual meeting in Chicago, IL. In the first study, Massarotti and fellow researchers in the UK found that the BMI to BMD ratio is more predictive of fragility fractures than BMD alone.¹ In the second study, Tribbick and colleagues in the UK discovered that bone loss is increased in the femur of patients with RA but not in the lumbar spine, where BMD is actually higher than in subjects without RA.² Scroll through the slides for the details of the studies and the take-home points for clinicians.