Severity, Distribution of Wrinkles May Indicate Bone Fracture Risk in Women

Nowadays, the urge is to Botox wrinkles away, but a new study suggests they may tell us important information about our health.

Though wrinkles are considered simply as a sign of aging, they may also be able to predict a woman’s bone fracture risk, according to researchers from the Yale School of Medicine.

The researchers say that the severity and distribution of skin wrinkles and overall skin quality appears to be indicative of bone mineral density in early menopausal women.

Low bone density is associated with increased risk of fractures and breaks, especially among the elderly.

“We found that deepening and worsening skin wrinkles are related to lower bone density,” said Lubna Pal, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Science at Yale School of Medicine.  “The worse the wrinkles, the lesser the bone density.”

The association, Lubna said, was independent other factors such as age or other conditions that may influence bone mass.

In contrast, higher skin rigidity was related to better bone density.

“Our findings that the appearance and physical properties of the skin can reflect the quality of the skeleton are noteworthy because this may allow clinicians to identify fracture risk in postmenopausal women ‘at a glance’ without depending on costly tests,” said Pal.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston.