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Background: Body mass index (BMI) and bone mineral density (BMD) are positively correlated in several studies, but few data relate bone density, lipid profile and anthropometric measures.Aim: To investigate these relationships in a large, well-characterized cohort of men and women (The Hertfordshire Cohort Study).Methods: Men (n = 465) and women (n = 448) from Hertfordshire, UK were recruited. Information was available on demographic and lifestyle factors, anthropometric measurements, body fat percentage, fasting triglycerides, cholesterol (total, HDL, LDL), apolipoprotein (a) and apolipoprotein (b); bone mineral density (BMD) was recorded at the lumbar spine and total femur.Results: BMD at the lumbar spine (males r = 0.15, p = 0.001; females r = 0.14, p = 0.003) and total femoral region (males r = 0.18, p = 0.0001; females r = 0.16, p = 0.0008) was related to serum triglyceride level, even after adjustment for waist–hip ratio, age, social class and lifestyle factors, but not if body fat percentage was substituted for waist–hip ratio in the regression model. Fasting HDL cholesterol level was related to lumbar spine BMD in women (r = −0.15, p = 0.001) and total femoral BMD in both sexes (males r = −0.15, p = 0.002; females r = −0.23, p < 0.0001); these relationships were also attenuated by adjustment for body fat percentage but not waist–hip ratio. No relationships were seen between total or LDL cholesterol with BMD.Discussion: In this cohort, relationships between lipid profile and BMD were robust to adjustment for one measure of central obesity (waist–hip ratio), but not total body fat. This broadly supports the idea that adiposity may confound the relationship between lipids and bone mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass and strength with age, is significantly associated with type 2 diabetes in older people. Aim: To determine whether there is a relationship between grip strength and features of the metabolic syndrome. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Data were collected on grip strength, fasting glucose, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, waist circumference and 2 h glucose after an oral glucose tolerance test, in a population-based sample of 2677 men and women aged 59–73 years. Results: In men and women combined, a standard deviation (SD) decrease in grip strength was significantly associated with higher: fasting triglycerides (0.05 SD unit increase, 95%CI 0.02–0.09, p = 0.006); blood pressure (OR 1.13, 95%CI 1.04–1.24, p = 0.004); waist circumference (0.08 SD unit increase, 95%CI 0.06–0.10, p p = 0.001) and HOMA resistance (0.05 SD unit increase, 95%CI 0.01–0.09, p = 0.008), after adjustment for gender, weight, age, walking speed, social class, smoking habit and alcohol intake. Lower grip strength was also significantly associated with increased odds of having the metabolic syndrome according to both the ATPIII (OR 1.18, 95%CI 1.07–1.30, p p = 0.03). Discussion: Our findings suggest that impaired grip strength is associated with the individual features, as well as with the overall summary definitions, of the metabolic syndrome. The potential for grip strength to be used in the clinical setting needs to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]