Aging Skin Reveals Clues about Bone Health

Skin health and bone health share a number of mechanisms, such as collagen – a protein that supports the infrastructure of both skin and bone.  Lubna Pal, from Yale University (Connecticut, USA), and colleagues observe that early menopausal women who have more wrinkles have lower bone mineral density. Reviewing data collected on  114 women who participated in a skin study that assessed skin wrinkling and rigidity as well as bone mineral density (BMD), the team assessed skin wrinkles at 11 sites on the face and neck using the a standardized wrinkle scale, while skin rigidity was evaluated at the forehead and cheek using a durometer.  Among all the subjects, BMD was assessed via DXA scan at the lumbar spine, hip, and total body. Completing a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data, the team found that more skin wrinkling was associated with having lower bone density at the spine, femoral neck, and total body.  As well, having more glabellar wrinkles on the forehead was related to lower bone density at the femoral neck, while increasing skin rigidity at the face and the forehead was tied to stronger bones at the hip and spine.