Depression Linked to Thinner Bones & Increased Risk of Osteoporosis

Premenopausal women who have suffered from depression should be aware that they are at an increased risk of developing osteoporosis. In a recent press release, researchers announced that women who have suffered from any type of depression in their life have less bone mass than other women.

This information was detailed from a recent study concerning depression and osteoporosis. The risks of osteoporosis apply even if a woman was only mildly depressed.

While many physicians and women do not think of depression as a risk factor for bone loss and osteoporosis, they should. This holds particularly true for women as they enter their premenopausal years.

Our bone density peaks while we are young, and then our bones begin the thinning process. While the thinning process continues through our lives, it speeds up rapidly after menopause.

"Osteoporosis is a silent disease. Too often, the first symptom a clinician sees is when a patient shows up with a broken bone. Now we know that depression can serve as a red flag - that depressed women are more likely than other women to approach menopause already at higher risk of fractures" said Richard Nakamura, PhD., and the Deputy Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Researchers have determined that when a woman is depressed, her immune system is involved. This can cause or contribute to bone loss. The bone loss makes her bones weaker than women who have not suffered from depression.

They determined that the level of bone loss is on par with the bone loss that other high-risk activities cause. Other high-risk activities that cause bone loss include having a low intake of calcium, smoking, and a lack of physical activity.

One of the most common places for older women to fracture their bones is at their hips. The hip-bones also showed that they had suffered from the most bone thinning for premenopausal women.

The National Institute of Mental Health, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, contributed funds for this study. The study has been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

About the study
Researchers based their findings on the results of screening a total of 133 women. Of these, 44 were not depressed and 89 were depressed. All of the participants were premenopausal and were between the ages of 21 and 45.

The women had similar risk factors except for depression. Researchers determined that 17 percent of the women who had suffered with depression at some point in their lives had bones that were thinner than those women who had never suffered from depression.

Women are reminded to talk with their physicians as they enter premenopause to discuss the risks of osteoporosis.

Source:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel_print.asp?aId=53716