I have taken calcium supplements for most of my adult life. Is that enough to keep me from getting osteoporosis? Studies show that there are indisputable links between diabetes and osteoporosis.

“Better blood glucose management equals better bone health. There’s evidence that people with high blood glucose may have higher fracture risks,” reports Diabetes Forecast (September 2017). “Poor glycemic control definitely increases the risk of fracture.” Data from studies of thousands of people with diabetes show that when A1C is over 8.0%, there’s a spike in hip fractures. For this reason, among many others, we do not recommend people over age 65 allow their A1C to go up to 8.0%!

References

American Bone Health. “What Is the Connection Between Diabetes and Bone Health?” American Bone Health (February 5, 2018). https://americanbonehealth.org/bone-density/what-is-the-connection-between-diabetes-and-bone-health/ (accessed on 8/3/2020).

Chau, Diane L., and Steven V. Edelman, MD. “Osteoporosis and Diabetes,” Clinical Diabetes 2002 Jul; 20(3): 153-157. https://doi.org/10.2337/diaclin.20.3.153. https://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/20/3/153 (accessed on 8/3/2020).

Monaco, Kristen. “Managing Osteoporosis in Diabetes,” MedPage Today (March 26, 2018). https://www.medpagetoday.com/clinical-challenges/endo-osteoporosis/71988 (accessed on 8/3/2020).

Curry, Andrew. “How Diabetes Affects Your Skeleton,” Diabetes Forecast (September 2017). http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2017/sep-oct/how-diabetes-affects-your.html (accessed on 8/3/2020).