Low bone mineral density predicts incident heart failure in men and women: the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition)-Norfolk prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: It is unknown whether bone mineral density as a measure of osteoporosis is associated with development of heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests shared risk factors between heart failure and osteoporosis. Additionally, patients with osteoporosis are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

METHODS: We examined the prospective association of bone mineral density measured as broadband ultrasound attenuation by quantitative ultrasound of the heel with incident heart failure events in 13,666 apparently healthy persons 42 to 82 years of age participating in the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study in Norfolk, United Kingdom.

RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 9.3 years, 380 incident cases of heart failure occurred. The risk of heart failure decreased with increasing bone mineral density. The hazard ratios comparing each quartile with the lowest were 0.40 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 0.27 to 0.59), 0.54 (95% CI: 0.37 to 0.79), and 0.46 (95% CI: 0.32 to 0.68) in analysis adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, occupational social class, educational level, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol concentration, and body mass index (p for trend = 0.002), with a 23% risk decrease associated with every increase in 1 standard deviation of bone mineral density (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.66 to 0.89). The association was stronger with heart failure without (HR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.63 to 0.89) than with antecedent myocardial infarction (HR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.62 to 1.09).

CONCLUSIONS: We observed an inverse association between bone mineral density and the risk of heart failure in apparently healthy individuals. Our findings give support for cardiac assessment in people with reduced bone mineral density and warrant further exploration of underlying biological mechanisms linking osteoporosis and heart failure.