Dementia and osteoporosis in a geriatric population: Is there a common link?
Abstract
AIM: To determine the existence of a common pathological link between dementia and osteoporosis through reviewing the current evidence base.
METHODS: This paper reviews the current literature on osteoporosis and dementia in order to ascertain evidence of a common predisposing aetiology. A literature search of Ovid MED-LINE (1950 to June 2016) was conducted. The keywords "osteoporosis", "osteoporotic fracture", "dementia" and "Alzheimer's disease" (AD) were used to determine the theoretical links with the most significant evidence base behind them. The key links were found to be vitamins D and K, calcium, thyroid disease, statins, alcohol and sex steroids. These subjects were then searched in combination with the previous terms and the resulting papers manually examined. Theoretical, in vitro and in vivo research were all used to inform this review which focuses on the most well developed theoretical common causes for dementia (predominantly Alzheimer's type) and osteoporosis.
RESULTS: Dementia and osteoporosis are multifaceted disease processes with similar epidemiology and a marked increase in prevalence in elderly populations. The existence of a common link between the two has been suggested despite a lack of clear pathological overlap in our current understanding. Research to date has tended to be fragmented and relatively weak in nature with multiple confounding factors reflecting the difficulties of in vivo experimentation in the population of interest. Despite…
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