- Does bone health affect brain health? In a recent study, researchers investigated the link between bone mineral density and dementia in older patients.
- They found low bone mineral density is linked to higher dementia risk later in life.
- Further research is needed as the findings display a correlation, not causation.
Over 55 million people globally have dementia. By 2050, this figure is expected to increase to 139 million people.
Studies have suggested a link between
Knowing more about the extent to which bone loss exists before dementia onset could aid the development of preventive strategies that optimize the health and care of dementia patients.
Recently, researchers examined the link between bone mineral density and dementia incidence.
They found that people with low bone mineral density were more likely to develop dementia.
The study appears in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
For the study, the researchers examined healthcare data from 3, 651 dementia-free participants who underwent X-rays to assess their bone health between 2002 and 2005.
The researchers also included demographic data in their analysis, including education level, smoking status, cholesterol levels, risk of comorbidities, and genetic risk data, among others.
Patients were around 72 years old on average, and 57.9% were women. They were followed for around 11 years.
During the follow-up, 18.8% of participants developed dementia, of whom 76.7% developed Alzheimer’s disease.
They noted, however, that their findings contrast
Also, contrasting
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