Bone Mineral Density and Stroke Risk

Abstract

To the Editor: In their recent article, Jorgensen et al1 examined the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and stroke. They reported that female, but not male, stroke patients had lower BMD than population controls. Like the few other previous reports, it was based on fewer than 85 total cases. We attempted to replicate their findings by analyzing data from a population-based study. We looked at stroke prevalence and BMD, using data from the cross-sectional Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).2 NHANES III collected data from a nationally representative sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized US population from 1988 to 1994. Analyses were limited to 6298 non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican-American men and women whose BMD levels were measured and who were aged 45 years and older at the time of the NHANES III examination, because relatively few strokes occur at younger ages. BMD was measured by trained examiners in mobile examination centers. Total proximal femoral BMD was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (Hologic QDR-1000; Hologic, …