Increase in bone fractures linked to HIV

BOSTON, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- HIV infected patients may have a 60 percent higher risk of bone fractures, U.S. researchers say.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, finds HIV-associated increases in fracture rates in men and women.

"This very large study group including more than 8,500 HIV-infected patients and over 2 million controls has the power to detect significant differences in risk for both men and women at critical sites such as the hip and spine, risks that increased with age," senior author Dr. Steven Grinspoon of the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School in Boston says in a statement.

The study used data from the Partners HealthCare System Research Patient Data Registry of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital patients treated over an 11-year period.

The data indicate that HIV-infected patients, both men and women, should be screened for low bone density as they age, Grinspoon said.

"We also need to learn more about the mechanisms of this bone loss -- whether antiviral drugs, the virus itself, or other metabolic factors are responsible -- and investigate specific fracture rates for women before and after menopause."