Osteoporosis Linked to Higher Risk for Dementia

A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found an association between osteoporosis and a 1.3-fold increase in the risk for dementia among men and a 1.2-fold increase among women, reports Healio Rheumatology . The researchers analyzed 29,983 people with osteoporosis followed by 1,215 general practitioners between January 1993 and December 2012. Also included were 29,983 controls, with the primary outcome being the proportion of participants with dementia diagnoses within 20 years of the index date. The researchers estimated that 20.5 percent of women with osteoporosis and 16.4 percent of women in the control group were diagnosed with dementia within those 20 years, as were 22 percent of men with osteoporosis and 14.9 percent of male controls. "The major hypothesis to explain the association between osteoporosis and dementia is that these two conditions have similar risk factors," says IQVIA's Karel Kostev. "Physicians who diagnose and treat osteoporosis — including orthopedists and, partly, gynecologists — should recommend their recipients receive memory checks or refer then to neurologists at least once per year. Neurologists should check beneficiaries for dementia or even mild cognitive impairment when they know that these persons have osteoporosis."