In addition to the damage to the kidneys, the heart and the problems that can cause type 2 diabetes, now the negative effect it would have on the bones could be added, a study of the Mayo Clinic released today revealed.
The report, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and which had the support of the Health Institutes, found a link between diabetes and bone damage after carrying out a direct measurement in bones of patients with type 2 diabetes.
"Clearly, the skeleton must be recognized as another of the whites of the complications of diabetes," said Sundeep Khosla, endocrinologist of the Mayo Clinic and the main author of the study.
Previously, several studies had found that diabetes patients experienced fractures at levels of bone density above those registered in the general population, which indicated that there could be some difference in terms of "quality" of bones.
The researchers carried out tests to measure the strength of the bones, which included microscopic ruptures, in 60 postmenopausal women, 30 of them with type 2 diabetes.
The study found that the group of women with type 2 diabetes had significantly lower bone solidity and that these had experienced a higher hyperglycemia level in the last 10 years.
The researchers highlighted the relevance that this finding can have in conditions such as autoimmune arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, which are treated with glucocorticoids.
Hispanics have a twice greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to people from other ethnic groups in the United States, according to data from disease control and prevention centers (CDC). Between the risk factors forType 2 diabetes is age (being over 45 years old), obesity, family history of diabetes, gestational diabetes, lack of physical activity and race or ethnic origin.