Shielding Your Cognitive Health May Prevent Risk Of Fractures

Cognitive decline has been associated with increased fracture risk in women over five years compared to men, states a study at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. "Bone loss and cognitive decline are major public health issues, but both are ’silent diseases’ that can go undetected and untreated for long periods, often until the conditions are severely progressed," says Professor Jacqueline Center, Head of the Clinical Studies and Epidemiology lab at Garvan, an endocrinologist at St Vincent’s Hospital and senior author of the findings.

Osteoporosis (bone loss) affects 200 million people globally. Whereas, 35 million are affected by dementia – a neurodegenerative disease, characterized by gradual memory loss and behavioural disturbances.

The figure is expected to double over the next two decades with the rise in life expectancy. Both disorders, apart from increasing the disability and loss of independence, also pose a high rate of mortality.

Risk of Cognitive Decline and Bone Loss

The 16 years study included data from the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos). This involved 1741 women and 620 men (with no cognitive decline at enrolment) above the age of 65 years to find out the link between cognitive decline and a faster rate of bone loss.

It was found that cognitive decline over the first five years related to a 1.7-fold increase in the fracture risk among women in the subsequent 10 years. However the association was weaker in men.

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One of the reasons for high risk in women may be due to a third factor – estrogen deficiency after menopause. This independently raises the risk of bone loss and cognitive decline.

"Our study has revealed a link between the two in women, which suggests that cognition should be monitored together with bone health, as a decline in one could mean a decline in the other. These findings may help refine best practice guidelines of how cognition and bone health are monitored in older age, to ensure appropriate treatment can be more effectively administered," says Professor Jacqueline Center.

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Source-Medindia