Heart Medication Leads to Hip Bone Loss

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Loop diuretics -- commonly prescribed drugs for heart failure and hypertension -- may cause hip bone loss in men, a new study reveals.

Experts say taking loop diuretics potentially damages bones over time by increasing the amount of calcium excreted in urine. The medication was previously linked to an increased risk of hip and other fractures, but it was not determined whether this was due to bone mineral density loss, factors causing someone to fall -- dizziness or orthostasis (low blood pressure when standing up) -- or co-occurring illnesses.

Between 2000 and 2002, researchers at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., tested the bone mineral density levels of 3,269 men older than age 65. An average of 4.6 years later, they again measured their levels and found, when compared to men not taking loop diuretics, the bone loss rate was two times greater for intermittent users and 2.5 times greater for continuous users. Continuous users of the prescribed medication had an average annual rate of bone mineral density loss of -0.78 percent, while the rate for intermittent users was -0.58, and for non-users was -0.33.

“We conclude that loop diuretic use in older men is associated with increased rates of hip bone loss,” study authors write. “Our findings suggest that health care providers should take into account loop diuretic use when evaluating older men for risk factors for bone loss and fracture risk.”

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:735-740