Is bone health linked to brain health? (Seemingly)

Medical Xpress / American Academy of Neurology / Neurology ^ | March 22, 2023 | Tian Xiao et al

[ConservativeMind]

People who have low bone density may have an increased risk of developing dementia compared to people who have higher bone density, according to a study. The study does not prove that low bone density causes dementia. It only shows an association.

"Low bone density and dementia are two conditions that commonly affect older people simultaneously, especially as bone loss often increases due to physical inactivity and poor nutrition during dementia," said Mohammad Arfan Ikram, MD, Ph.D. "Our study found that bone loss indeed already occurs before dementia and thus is linked to a higher risk of dementia."

The study involved 3,651 people in the Netherlands with an average age of 72 who did not have dementia at the start of the study. Over an average of 11 years, 688 people (19%) developed dementia.

Researchers looked at X-rays to identify bone density. Participants were interviewed every four to five years and completed physical tests such as bone scans and tests for dementia.

Of the 1,211 people with the lowest total body bone density, 90 people developed dementia within 10 years, compared to 57 of the 1,211 people with the highest bone density.

After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, education, other illnesses and medication use, and a family history of dementia, researchers found that within 10 years, people with the lowest total body bone density were 42% more likely to develop dementia than people in the highest group.

"Previous research has found factors like diet and exercise may impact bones differently as well as the risk of dementia," Ikram added. "Our research has found a link between bone loss and dementia."

[ConservativeMind]

You can directly impact bone density, if not dementia. Weight-bearing exercise and appropriate intake of vitamins and minerals via foods or supplementation, definitely can help.

Whether these prevent dementia was not explicitly found, as this was identified by association.

[ConservativeMind]

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