Male teenagers with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) lasting on average 5.8 years were found to have a lower bone mineral density (BMD) than controls, putting them at risk for developing osteoporosis as they age. The study, published July 10 in Bone, used dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans to measure bone density in a group of 100 Thai teenagers with type 1 diabetes and 100 healthy controls.

Because previous studies of BMD in children had come to conflicting conclusions, the aim of this study was to “compare BMD between T1DM youth and healthy controls, and to identify factors that affect BMD in T1DM youth,” according to the study’s authors, Jeerunda Santiprabhob, Parichat Charoentawornpanich, Khwanhatai Khemaprasit, Teerarat Manpayak, Pornpimol Kiattisakthavee, Amornrat Pipatsathian, Nilrat Wannasilp, and Watip Tangjittipokin.

The study concluded that “[The d]eleterious effect of T1DM on BMD is gender specific. The longer the duration of T1DM, the greater the deficit in BMD found among boys with T1DM.”

Sources
Jeerunda Santiprabhob, Parichat Charoentawornpanich, Khwanhatai Khemaprasit, Teerarat Manpayak, Pornpimol Kiattisakthavee, Amornrat Pipatsathian, Nilrat Wannasilp, Watip Tangjittipokin “Effect of gender, diabetes duration, inflammatory cytokines, and vitamin D level on bone mineral density among Thai children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.”. Bone Available online from July 10, 2021, at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S8756328221002775?via%3Dihub Accessed July 26, 2021

“DEXA shows lower bone density in diabetic children.” By Will Morton, AuntMinnie.com staff writer. Available at https://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=xra&pag=dis&ItemID=132905 Accessed July 26, 2021.