Study Finds Association Between Bone Density and Facial Wrinkles

A study presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston reported that the more severe a woman’s wrinkles are in early menopause, the lower her bone density is likely to be. The study, which was described in an Endocrine Society press release, is an ancillary study to the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS), an ongoing multicenter trial funded by the Aurora Foundation and the Kronos Longevity Research Institute in Phoenix. It included 114 women in their late 40s and early 50s who had had their last menstrual period within the past 3 years and who were not taking hormone therapy. Women were excluded from participating if they had undergone any cosmetic skin procedures. Women received a score for face and neck wrinkles based on the number of sites with wrinkles and on the depth of the wrinkles. The skin firmness or rigidity was measured at the forehead and the cheek with a device called a durometer. Study participants also underwent measurement of bone density by dual X-ray absorptiometry and by a portable heel ultrasound device. The investigators, led by Lubna Pal, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist and associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, found a significant inverse correlation between the wrinkle score and the bone density. This relationship was evident at all skeletal sites—hip, lumbar spine and heel—and was independent of age, body composition or other factors known to influence bone density, Pal said. Additionally, firmer skin of the face and forehead was associated with greater bone density. "Ultimately, we want to know if intensity of skin wrinkles can allow identification of women who are more likely to fracture a bone, especially the femoral neck or the hip, an often fatal injury in older people," said Pal. "If this is the case, then including the study of skin wrinkles to other clinical risk factors may allow identification of fracture risk in populations that do not have access to more costly technology."