Vertigo Blog

Osteoporosis May Raise Risk for Vertigo

Posted 23 Mar 2009 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 23 – People with osteoporosis are much more likely to have vertigo than people with normal bone density, Korean researchers say. Vertigo is an inner ear disorder that's a common cause of dizziness. It's believed to be caused by loose calcium carbonate crystals in the sensing tubes of the inner ear. The researchers compared 209 people with benign positional vertigo with no known causes – such as ear surgery or head trauma – with 202 people with no history of dizziness. Compared to participants with normal bone density, those with osteoporosis (low bone density) were three times more likely to have vertigo and those with osteopenia (the stage before osteoporosis) were two times more likely to have vertigo. Among women, 25 percent of those with vertigo had osteoporosis, compared to 9 percent of those without vertigo, and 47 percent of those with vertigo had osteopenia, ... Read more

Related support groups: Osteoporosis, Vertigo