People with the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis are at increased risk for having coronary artery disease (CAD), in which plaque build-up starves the heart of its blood supply, investigators in Michigan report. In fact, osteoporosis is a stronger factor than some traditional risk markers for CAD.

"A previous study showed that women with osteoporosis have more strokes and cardiovascular events, such as congestive heart failure and chest pain," lead author Dr Pamela A. Marcovitz said. "Also, a radiologist had published a study showing they have higher coronary calcium scores, implying that they have more coronary disease as well."

"But no one had looked at catheterisation results, which is the gold standard, to sort out this issue." With catheterisation, doctors inject special contrast material into the body to create an "angiogram" that allows direct visualisation of the coronary arteries to determine if blockage is present.

Dr Marcovitz, from William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, and her associates identified 183 women and 26 men who underwent bone testing and catheterization within the same 12-month period between 1999 and 2002. Clinically significant CAD was documented in more than half of the patients.