Excess Premenopausal Visceral Fat a Risk Factor for Osteoporosis

Two words: Anabolic Clinic (sm)

Two more words: Lose weight.

Young premenopausal women with excessive amounts of visceral fat are at increased risk for osteoporosis, according to new research presented here at the Radiological Society of North America 96th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting.

For years, it was believed that obese women had a lower risk of developing osteoporosis and that the mechanical loading from excess weight was good for their bones. It now appears that having too much fat, particularly deep abdominal fat, might be damaging to bone health, Miriam A. Bredella, MD, from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, told meeting attendees.

"With this ongoing obesity epidemic, we were actually seeing more and more young women breaking their forearms or their wrists, and the single biggest risk factor in this group was actually increased body weight," she told Medscape Medical News. "We thought we should look take a closer look at whether obesity really did protect against osteoporosis."

It didn't.

Anabolic substances build bone.

Weight loss can protect against osteoporosis if the osteoporosis is related to overweight/obesity.