“New Study Finds Link Between Bone Density and Increased Risk of Dementia in Elderly”

The prevalence of dementia among the elderly aged 65 years or older, both domestically and internationally, is about 5-10%. In Korea, the number of people with dementia is expected to double every 20 years from about 540,000 in 2012 to about 1.27 million in 2030 and about 2.71 million in 2050.

It’s not just a domestic situation. According to the International Alzheimer’s Association, more than 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia. This is due to the rapid increase in the number of dementia patients as the average life expectancy has increased due to the development of science and technology and the improvement of welfare standards.

In the academic world, it has been considered that abnormal protein beta (β) amyloid plaques in brain neurons, which are pointed out as the cause of dementia, are related to bone density (strength of bones), but there is no theoretical support.

Recently, a research paper showing the relationship between bone density and dementia has been published, drawing attention from the academic world.

Older adults with low bone density were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with dementia within 10 years than their peers with high bone density, a new study found.

A research team led by Mohammed Ikram, professor of medicine at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, confirmed a link between decreased bone density in the femur and an increased risk of all types of dementia.

The femur is the longest and hardest bone in the human body, located between the pelvis and knee, and is a standard for bone density-related diseases such as osteoporosis.

To investigate the correlation between bone mineral density and dementia, the research team used DXA (double energy X-ray absorptiometry) on 3,651 elderly people who did not suffer from dementia between 2002 and 2005. Bone density data were collected and analyzed.

DXA is an examination technique that measures bone density most accurately by irradiating two different types of X-rays.

As a result of the survey, it was revealed that 33% of the elderly with low femoral bone density had a 2.03 times higher incidence of dementia than the 33% of the elderly with the highest femoral bone density. The average age of participants was 72 years old, and 54% were female.

The researchers included data on participants’ age, gender, education level, physical activity, smoking status, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, history of stroke and diabetes, and genetic risk factors.

As a result of follow-up until January 1, 2020, 688 people, or 19% of the total, were diagnosed with dementia, and 77% of them were counted as suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

The research team confirmed that the risk of dementia increased by 12% for each step in the standard deviation of bone density in the femur, and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease increased by 14%.

“We found a link between bone loss and dementia, but further research is needed to understand the link between bone density and memory loss,” the researchers said.

The results of this study were published in the latest issue of Neurology, an international academic journal published by the American Neurological Association.