Depression Linked to Brittle Bones in Women
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Depression should be added to the conditions that lead to osteoporosis in women, conclude the authors of a new study.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
RELATED HEALTH ARTICLES
Monthly vitamin D supplement safe and effective
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A single high dose of vitamin D given every four weeks is as safe as smaller daily or weekly doses, and is as effective in achieving adequate circulating levels of the vitamin, according to a study conducted in Israel.
Don't Hog That Joint
Yet another study has concluded that medical marijuana is useful for managing pain.
Medical Visionary DeBakey is Eulogized in Houston
Over 1800 people gathered in remembrance of world-renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, often lauded as the Father of Modern Cardiovascular Medicine.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Depression should be added to the conditions that lead to osteoporosis in women, conclude the authors of a new study.
Dr. Farideh Eskandari of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and colleagues found that low bone mineral density was more common among women with major depressive disorder.
The difference was "of clinical significance and comparable in magnitude to those resulting from established risk factors for osteoporosis, such as smoking and reduced calcium intake," they write in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers compared bone mineral density and several measurements of hormonal activity and bone formation factors in 89 premenopausal women formally diagnosed with current or recent major depressive disorder and in 44 healthy women with no history of depression.
Among the women with depression, 17 percent had low bone mineral density at the upper end of the thighbone, compared to 2 percent of the control group, while 15 percent of depressed women had low bone mineral density in the hip compared to 2 percent of the controls. Low bone density in the lower back was seen in 20 percent of the depressed women and 9 percent of their non-depressed peers, although the difference wasn't statistically significant.
While bone formation and hormonal activity didn't differ between the two groups, the researchers did find a "striking difference" in their levels of inflammation-promoting proteins, which were much higher in the depressed women. Depressed women also had significantly lower levels of inflammation-fighting proteins, on average, than the control group.
Antidepressant use did not appear to play a role in the lower bone density seen among the depressed women.
Weight also wasn't a factor. Being thin boosts osteoporosis risk, but the depressed women were actually 5 kilograms heavier than the control group, on average.
It's possible, the researchers note, that the depressed women never achieved peak bone mass. This typically occurs during the late teens, when most of the women reported having their first episode of depression.
Given that roughly 16 percent of premenopausal adult women in the US suffer from major depression, the researchers write, as many as 4 million women may have undiagnosed loss of bone mineral density that puts them at risk of osteoporosis.
"Therefore, major depressive disorder should be formally recognized as a risk factor for low bone mineral density in premenopausal women," they conclude.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, November 26, 2007.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
