Connection Between Psychological Stress and Osteoporosis

There are many factors that can impact your bone health, including medication, nutrition, and exercise, but what about psychological stress?

A recent review from Frontiers in Psychiatry looked into the interaction between stress and osteoporosis. While doctors have long known that stress can have a physical impact on the body, how and why this occurs is less understood... until now.

This review summarized different ways that cells and molecules in your body interact similarly during both psychological stress and during bone build-up and break-down, as well as how medication and alternative treatments might impact both mental health and osteoporosis. The review found that diet and exercise can both be an important part of a mental and bone health treatment plan. For both bone and mental health, exercise has long been established as helpful. Specifically, exercise can help increase bone density, improve balance, and reduce the risk of falls. But regular exercise has also been shown to be beneficial in reducing anxiety and stress. As the authors put it, "During exercise the brain is able to reduce or reverse some of the negative effects of stress on the brain. This is in part because, when exercising, the brain releases chemicals that jumpstart these processes."

Diet is another interesting connection affecting both bone and mental health. Calcium and vitamin D, for example, play roles in both bone and brain health. Vitamin D is a necessary part of building strong bones because it is crucial to the absorption of calcium. Calcium is also important in bone health, as it is a major component of bones tissue. In terms of mental health, vitamin D and calcium have been linked to lower rates of depression and anxiety. This is true both in the general population, and specifically in post-menopausal women.

Overall, the authors concluded that there are are many connections between brain and bone health, so focusing on keeping one healthy helps keep the other healthy as well! Sounds like a good deal to us.