Written By Dr. Jetske Ultee on 11 November 2011

Can Wrinkles Forecast the Risk of Bone Fracture?

I read about a remarkable study by Yale University in Boston. A couple of months ago Dr. Lubna Pal (Professor in gynecology, obstetrics and fertility) discovered that the more wrinkles someone has in the first years after starting their menopause, the worse their bone quality is. In other words, people with deeper and more wrinkles also appeared to have more fragile bones. This is also true vice versa; people with smooth firm skin actually had stronger bones. You may think yes that’s logical; people that have more wrinkles are older and therefore also have a higher chance of a fracture. Or people who have more wrinkles have these due to bad diet which also has an influence on the strength of the bones! But the investigation revealed that this relationship was not caused by factors such as age or diet.

Better to be safe than sorry

According to Pal this finding is very important as it is a simple and quick way to identify women who may suffer from osteoporosis and can greatly benefit from taking bone strengthening medicine. And although a special board is maybe a little bit over the top, I’ll make sure when I’m next on a piste that I make a wide turn when I see a lot of wrinkles under a ski hat….

You can read more here about the KEEPS investigation by Lubna Pal.