People with schizophrenia has been known as a high risk groups for developing osteoporosis, because of lack of exercise, poor nutrition and high rate of smoking. Those with alcohol abuse may be higher risk group than one with schizophrenia without alcohol abuse, because they frequently have several medical problems such as liver dysfunction, Vitamin D deficiency, hyperparathyroidism and those medical condition increase risk for developing osteoporosis. Also alcohol itself can increase bone loss too by disturbing bone remodeling and enhancing bone fragility. To compare the prevalence of bone mineral density in patients with schizophrenia with alcohol abuse to those without alcohol problem, we will investigate BMD in large population of Korean patients with those illnesses.
