Facial wrinkles may predict bone density in early menopause
June 5th, 2011 - 6:58 pm ICT by IANSWashington, Jun 5 (IANS) The worse a woman’s skin wrinkles are during the first few years of menopause, the lower her bone density is.
“In post-menopausal women, the appearance of the skin may offer a glimpse of the skeletal well-being, a relationship not previously described,” said Lubna Pal, reproductive endocrinologist and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine.
The study demonstrates only an association between bone density and skin wrinkling, stressed Pal, the study’s principal investigator. However, she called their findings noteworthy.
“This information,” Pal said, “may allow for the possibility of identifying postmenopausal women at fracture risk at a glance, without dependence on costly tests.”
The study is an ancillary study to an ongoing multi-centre trial called the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study, or KEEPS, according to a Yale statement.
This ancillary study included 114 women in their late 40s and early 50s who had had their last menstrual period within the past three years and who were not taking hormone therapy. Women were excluded from participating if they had undergone any cosmetic skin procedures.
Investigators found a significant inverse correlation between the wrinkle score and the bone density, meaning the higher the score (and the worse the wrinkles), the lower the bone density.
Although the connection between bones and skin may seem unclear, Pal explained that they share common building blocks-a group of proteins known as collagens.
As we age, changes in collagen occur that may account for age related skin changes including worsening skin wrinkles and sagging skin, and also contribute to deterioration in bone quality and quantity.
The results will be presented Monday at The Endocrine Society’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.
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Tags: age changes, bone density, bone quality, collagens, cosmetic skin, early menopause, endocrine society, facial wrinkles, first few years, fracture risk, inverse correlation, menopausal women, menstrual period, postmenopausal women, prevention study, reproductive endocrinologist, sagging skin, skin changes, skin wrinkles, yale school of medicine