Background

The risk factors of bone mineral loss are known widely. Recently, the results were reported that high blood pressure is associated with abnormalities in calcium metabolism and sustained calcium loss may lead to increased bone mineral loss in people with high blood pressure. Therefore, we investigated the cross sectional association between blood pressure and bone mineral loss in domestic perimenopausal women.

Methods
Among 306 women who visited a university hospital in Busan for health exam from July 1999 to March 2001, we selected 150 women excluding those who received hormone replacement therapy or anti-osteoporotic medications, and have had vertebral surgery. We measured body weight, body mass index, daily calcium uptake, blood pressure (BP), and bone mineral density (BMD). The SPSS statistical program was used for statistical analysis and the test for correlation and partial correlation adjusted for age was used.

Results
The total subjects consisted of 88 premenopausal and 62 postmenopausal women. In premenopausal women, after controlling for age, body weight (γ=0.222, P＜0.05) and BMI (γ=0.234, P＜0.05) were related to spinal BMD. In postmenopausal women, spinal BMD, after controlling for age, was related to only body weight (γ=0.396, P＜0.01). In all the subjects, after controlling for age, body weight (γ=0.293, P＜0.01), BMI (γ=0.239, P＜0.01), and calcium intake per day (γ=0.235, P＜0.01) were correlated with spinal BMD. In 48 women with high abnormal BP (systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg) after controlling for age, menopausal status, body weight, and spinal BMD was negatively correlated with systolic BP (γ=-0.321, P=0.03).

Conclusion
These results suggest that BP was not associated with bone mineral loss in perimenopausal women. In perimenopausal women with high abnormal BP, systolic BP was negatively correlated with BMD at the lumbar vertebrae.