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In women, low bone mass linked to Alzheimer's Reuters
Health, May 15, 2003 NEW YORK - Women with low bone
mass in their later years appear to have a higher risk of eventually
developing the memory-robbing disease Alzheimer's,
researchers said Thursday. The same relationship between bone mass and
memory decline was not present in men, however. In women, it is not likely low bone mass
itself, but what it represents, that may increase the risk of memory
problems, study author Dr. Zaldy Tan told Reuters Health. Studies have shown that the drop in estrogen
production at menopause accelerates bone loss in women, and the amount of
bone mass a woman carries into old age is a "marker for lifelong
estrogen exposure," Tan said. Consequently, if a woman has low bone mass in
her 70s, "that may mean (her) estrogen exposure during (her) lifetime
is not as high as it should be," he added. Previous research has also suggested that
estrogen may protect the brain from memory loss, the researcher said. As such, he reasoned that the findings are
"suggestive" that lifetime exposure to estrogen may help prevent
Alzheimer's
disease and dementia. However, Tan added that it is too soon for
doctors to attempt to gauge a woman's risk of memory decline in old age
using bone scans conducted years earlier. This current study produced "definitely
an interesting finding," said Tan, who is based at Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard University in Boston. "But I think we need some more studies
to confirm this" before doctors begin applying this information to
their patients, he added. Tan and his colleagues reported their
findings during the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in
Baltimore. During the study, Tan and his team recorded
bone mass measurements for 987 men and women, average age 76, then
followed them for up to 13 years and noted who developed Alzheimer's or
dementia. They found that women with the lowest bone
mass measurements were more than twice as likely to later develop
Alzheimer's or dementia as those with stronger bones. In men, however, earlier bone mass had no
relationship to Alzheimer's or dementia risk, suggesting that changes in
estrogen may have a different effect on men than women, Tan said. Although the findings suggest that estrogen
may protect against dementia and Alzheimer's in women, Tan noted that
previous research has shown that estrogen does not help treat these
conditions once they develop. "I think, ultimately, (estrogen) will be more of a prevention than treatment" of mental decline, he predicted. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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