Women aged 50-79 with a lot of social stress may experience more bone loss after menopause than their counterparts who can manage stress.
Using the NHLBI-funded Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) cohort, researchers followed 11,020 postmenopausal women over six years. The women periodically received bone mineral density (BMD) tests—commonly used to detect brittle, fracture-prone bones, or osteoporosis. They also received mood assessments that rated their level of social strain (negative social relationships), support (positive social relationships) and activity.
Women with social strain scored between 4 to 20 points, with higher scores indicative of more strain. Researchers found that each point higher resulted in 0.08% greater loss of BMD in the neck; 0.11% greater loss of BMD total hip; and 0.07% greater loss of BMD in the lower spine.
Low social activity led to greater decreases in BMD in the neck and hip. Also, researchers tied lower social support and to greater decreased in BMD in the neck. Although the study’s findings do not support causation, it does suggests that women who can manage their social stress may be less likely to experience fractures and have healthier bones.
The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, was funded by NHLBI.