TORONTO, Sep 27 (Reuters Health) - Decreased bone mineral density in women may be a marker for abnormal calcium deposits in their heart vessels--a finding that could signal which women are at increased risk of atherosclerotic heart disease, researchers reported here at the 22nd annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

A link between osteoporosis and atherosclerotic disease has been suspected, but new data from the Framingham Offspring Study is providing additional supporting evidence. The findings were presented by Dr. Douglas Kiel of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Participants in the Framingham Offspring Study underwent bone mineral density measurements of the hip and spine, as well as assessments of coronary calcification using a type of imaging study called electron beam computed tomography. None of the 303 participants undergoing both evaluations had symptomatic heart disease.

The Framingham team found that women who had low bone mineral density in the spine had significantly more coronary calcium deposits than women with a high bone mineral density. Kiel noted that the association was not found for men. There were 146 males included in the study.

Women with a low bone mineral density in the hip had slightly higher numbers of coronary calcifications than those who had high bone mineral density, but the association was not as strong as with the spinal bone mineral density.

Arterial calcification resembles bone formation, and occurs early in the atherosclerotic process, Kiel explained. Plus, some studies suggest there are metabolic links between osteoporosis and vascular calcification.

Kiel cautioned that it is too early at this point to make any clinical recommendations. Larger groups of people need to be studied before the connection between the diseases can be confirmed and the mechanism understood.

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　　(From Reuters Health)