May 5, 2024

New Study Links Low Bone Density to an Increased Risk of Dementia

Over an average of 11 years, 688 people or 19% established dementia.
Researchers took a look at X-rays to determine bone density. Individuals were spoken with every four to five years and finished physical tests such as bone scans and tests for dementia.
Of the 1,211 people with the most affordable overall body bone density, 90 individuals established dementia within 10 years, compared to 57 of the 1,211 individuals with the greatest bone density.
After changing for elements such as age, sex, education, other diseases and medication usage, and a household history of dementia, researchers discovered that within 10 years, individuals with the least expensive total body bone density were 42% most likely to establish dementia than people in the highest group.
” Previous research study has discovered factors like diet plan and workout may impact bones differently in addition to the danger of dementia,” Ikram added. “Our research has actually discovered a link in between bone loss and dementia, however additional research studies are needed to better comprehend this connection between bone density and memory loss. Its possible that bone loss might take place already in the earliest stages of dementia, years before any medical signs manifest themselves. If that held true, bone loss might be an indication of danger for dementia and individuals with bone loss could be targeted for screening and improved care.”
A constraint of the study is that participants were mostly of European origin and aged 70 or older at the start of the research study, so these findings might differ in different races, ethnic backgrounds, and younger age groups.
Referral: “Association of Bone Mineral Density and Dementia: The Rotterdam Study” by Tian Xiao, Samuel Ghatan, Sanne S. Mooldijk, Katerina Trajanoska, Ling Oei, M. Medina Gomez, M. Kamran Ikram, Fernando Rivadeneira and M. Arfan Ikram, 22 March 2023, Neurology.DOI: 10.1212/ WNL.0000000000207220.
The research study was funded by Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development, the Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly, The Netherlands Genomics Initiative, the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports, the European Commission and the Municipality of Rotterdam.

A brand-new study recommends that people with low bone density might face a greater threat of developing dementia, though it just develops an association and not causation in between the two conditions.
According to a study just recently published in the online issue of Neurology– the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology– individuals with low bone density might deal with a greater threat of establishing dementia in comparison to those with high bone density. Its essential to note that the research study only establishes a correlation and does not prove that low bone density is a direct cause of dementia.
” Low bone density and dementia are two conditions that commonly affect older individuals all at once, especially as bone loss typically increases due to physical lack of exercise and bad nutrition throughout dementia,” said research study author Mohammad Arfan Ikram, MD, Ph.D., of the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “However, little is understood about bone loss that occurs in the duration leading up to dementia. Our research study discovered that bone loss undoubtedly already happens before dementia and thus is linked to a higher risk of dementia.”
The study involved 3,651 individuals with an average age of 72, residing in the Netherlands, who did not have dementia at the start of the research study.

” Low bone density and dementia are two conditions that typically impact older individuals at the same time, specifically as bone loss frequently increases due to physical lack of exercise and poor nutrition during dementia,” stated research study author Mohammad Arfan Ikram, MD, Ph.D., of the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “Our research has found a link between bone loss and dementia, however further studies are needed to better comprehend this connection between bone density and memory loss. If that were the case, bone loss could be an indicator of threat for dementia and individuals with bone loss could be targeted for screening and enhanced care.”