Anxiety weakens bones, Australian researchers say

Sydney: Beware, anxiety now comes with a new risk: it weakens your bones.

Researchers from Deakin in Australia and Norwegian universities analysed data of over 8,000 men and women from central Norway and found a link between depressive symptoms and reduction in bone mineral density.

Participants underwent forearm bone mineral density scans, reports the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Symptoms

Deakin researcher Lana Williams said it was found that depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in men were associated with lower bone mineral density.

"There are several known risk factors for low bone mineral density, such as advanced age, gender (women are at greater risk than men), familial predisposition, low levels of sex hormones, inadequate calcium intake and vitamin D deficiency."