After Foss and Byers published their pioneer paper on 1972 and concluded that "osteoarthrosis (OA) is associated with above average bone density, and that osteoporosis (OP) and OA of the hip do not normally occur together", a great number of speculations regarding the relationship between these pathologies was made. By now, we have come to learn that the relationship between OA and bone mineral density (BMD) is much more complex and even more intriguing. Papers on the subject are contradictory and it is not possible to state that OP and OA are always mutually excluding. Otherwise, it is not possible to assure that all patients suffering from OA are protected from fractures, and one must keep a more conservative position in relation to this problem. Finally, there are no evidences that medications used to handle OP should be able to raise the risk of OA by preserving or rising bone density, and experimental investigations currently suggest exactly the opposite.
osteoarthrosis; osteoarthritis; osteoporosis; bone mineral density; fractures