Healthcare professionals are being urged to pay close attention to the bone health of people with diabetes.
A new review, Epidemiology of Fractures in Diabetes, has looked at the different factors involving fractures, diabetes and the risk of further complications.
The review said the risk of hip fractures has grown because of the increase of diabetes and obesity in an aging population, however little is being done to deal with the problem.
It examined current findings on the risk factors which might affect fractures in those with diabetes, such as age, gender, smoking and alcohol use.
The authors say more work is needed to better understand the links between fractures and diabetes, and especially to develop better risk calculators for fracture.
They say the current method, which involves using a bone mineral density test, may not correctly predict fractures in people with diabetes.
Previous research has shown that people with type 2 diabetes are 1.3 times more likely to have a hip fracture, and the risk is seven times greater for those with type 1 diabetes.
Despite those figures, people with either condition are not normally checked by doctors for osteoporosis. They are even less likely to receive treatment for the bone condition when compared to those without diabetes.
Professor Bo Abrahamse, from the Department of Medicine at the Holbaek Hospital in Denmark, said: “Given that the global burden of both diabetes (currently 400 million people) and osteoporosis (currently 250 million) is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years, it is important that effective screening and prevention strategies are developed to reduce the risk of potentially devastating fractures in people with diabetes.”
The authors of the review have called for more research to be done into diabetes and fractures.
The review has been published in the Calcified Tissue International and Research journal.

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