Depression and Osteoporosis in women

Depression has its fallout on the physic of the depressed as signified in a series of researches. An Archive of Internal Medicine study found that women suffering from depression are more prone to bone loss from osteoporosis compared with women who are not clinically depressed. Osteoporosis is metabolic bone disease characterized by bone fragility and bone fracture.

Osteoporosis is also internal disorder. Some scientist said that osteoporosis is a silent disease. There is a strong relation between depression and osteoporosis. Both these causes due to chronic vitamin D deficiency. This chronic vitamin D deficiency causes depression and bones become brittle which causes to the osteoporosis. Osteoporosis causes due to loss of bone mass.

It is known that women are more prone to both depression and osteoporosis than men, with half of all women compared with only one in five men suffering from bone loss after the age of 50. Blood and urine samples indicate that depressed women had overactive immune system that produces higher level of chemicals that promote inflammation. A protein IL-6 is responsible for triggering bone loss. The connection between brain and skeleton influences the depression on bone mass.

The After bone mineral density researchers found 17% had thinner bones in the femoral neck compared with only 2% of women who were not depressed. In the lumber spine area of the body, 20% of depressed women had low bone mass compared with only 9% of non-depressed women.

Mostly the higher chances of depression causes due to abnormal hormonal activity. The higher chances of depression in women is mostly due to a combination of gender-related differences in cognitive styles, some biologic factors and a higher incidence of psychosocial and economic stresses in women.

What are the risk factors for osteoporosis in women?

  • High bone loss
  • Smoking
  • Depression
  • Low calcium intake
  • Lack of physical activity
  • Poor nutrition.
  • Soft drinks

What is the relation between depression and osteoporosis in women?

The women having mild depression have less bone mass than their nondepressed peers. The osteoporosis most prevalent bone disease causes due to high level of bone mass, smoking, low calcium intake and lack is physical activity. The depressed women have overactive immune system.

The women having ages 50 and over which regularly take antidepressants means selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have double rate of fractures as the women which are not use such medications. The 17% women with depression show thinner hip bone while the 2% women with non-depression shows the same feature of bone thinness. This thinning of bones take place through out the life.

Depression is closely associated with increased risk for both low bone mineral density (BMD) and fractures. Depressed women has lower levels of inflammation fighting proteins than the control group. Mood and brain chemistry help to determine the strength of our bones.

In both condition depression and osteoporosis there is a common cause deficiency of Chronic vitamin D. The more idiotic media outlets are exposure that depression which causes to the osteoporosis. The depression causes to the loss of bone due to lack of calcium which increases the risk of osteoporosis.

Poor sleep also leads to the depression and associate with loss of bone which ultimately causes to the osteoporosis. Drug is not the treatment on this but reuptake of selective serotonin is common prescription for depression. Low level of cadmium is associated with an increased loss of bone mineral density. On research study indicate that the soft drinks can also increases the risk of osteoporosis.

Conclusion – The depression increases the high risk of osteoporosis. However, a question remains to be answered that whether the high rate of osteoporosis in depressed women can be attributed to their mental condition or it is the side effect of anti-depressant drugs taken by the women who participated in the study. The US study is silent on this issue.

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