Depression Linked to Bone Loss in Younger Women

Depression Linked to Bone Loss in Younger Women
MONDAY, Nov. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Premenopausal womenstruggling with depression have lower bone mass than do non-depressedwomen in the same age range, a new study found.
The bone loss was most pronounced in certain regions of the hip, whichis troubling given that hip fractures are one of the most serious -- andpotentially fatal -- consequences of osteoporosis.
The level of bone loss seen in the depressed women was the same orhigher than that associated with other, established risk factors forosteoporosis, including smoking, low calcium intake and lack of physicalexercise, the researchers said.
The findings, published in the Nov. 26 issue of the Archives ofInternal Medicine, could have implications for the prevention ofosteoporosis.
"Premenopausal women with depression should be screened for low bonemass," said Dr. Giovanni Cizza, senior author of the study who conductedthe research while at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. "Theyshould do a bone mineral density measurement, because osteoporosis is asilent condition. Until someone fractures, you don't know you haveosteoporosis."
Cizza is now a staff clinician at the U.S. National Institute ofDiabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
A woman's bone mass peaks during youth then thins after menopause.Previous, preliminary studies had suggested that depression might be arisk factor for low bone mass in older women.
For this study, Cizza and his colleagues looked at 89 women withdepression and 44 women without depression. The women ranged in age from21 to 45. The depressed women were taking antidepressant medications.
Seventeen percent of the depressed women had thinner bone density inthe femoral neck, a vulnerable part of the hip. Only 2 percent ofnon-depressed women, by contrast, had thinner bone in this area.
Twenty percent of depressed women also had low bone density in thelumbar spine, compared with 9 percent of the non-depressed women.
Blood and urine samples also revealed that the depressed women hadlower levels of "good" proteins called cytokines. "The bad cytokines thatmay cause bone loss are higher," Cizza said.
It's not clear what role antidepressants might play, but by relievingthe depression, the drugs may also help bone mineral density, theresearchers said.
More information
To learn more about bone health, visit the National OsteoporosisFoundation.