According to a study from US, depression may aggravate the risk of the osteoporosis, in premenopausal women.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) found that 17 percent of depressed women had thinner bone in a part of the hip, as compared to just 2 percent of those not depressed.According to the study, depressed women had overactive immune systems, making too many chemicals that promote inflammation including one that promotes bone loss.
The researchers looked at 89 depressed women on antidepressant medication and 44 women without depression, all aged 21 to 45.
It was found that 17 percent of the depressed women had thinner bone density in the femoral neck - a vulnerable part of the hip; while only two percent of non-depressed women had thinner bone in this area.
Also, 20 percent of women who were depressed also had low bone density in the lumbar spine, compared to nine percent of non depressed women.
At the same time, blood and urine samples taken in depressed women revealed that they had overactive immune systems, producing too many chemicals, which boost inflammation, and not enough chemicals that control it.
The level of bone loss was at least as high as that associated with known risk factors such as smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise.
"Osteoporosis is a silent disease. Too often, the first symptom a clinician sees is when a patient shows up with a broken bone,” BBC quoted Dr Richard Nakamura, NIMH deputy director, as saying.
"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,” he added.
The study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Source-ANI
JDP/P
