New National Osteoporosis Guideline launched today – an opportunity for those aged 70 years or older?

Dr Celia Gregson is a Consultant Geriatrician in Bath and Consultant Senior Lecturer in Bristol. She is also a member of the National Osteoporosis Guideline Development Group. She tweets @celiagregson

The National Osteoporosis Guideline Group (NOGG) is pleased to announce that the UK NOGG 2017 Update was released via their website today.  This new Guideline, accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in March 2017, includes a number of updates relating to fracture risk assessment, management of osteoporosis and treatment recommendations, all highly relevant for older people.

It is currently recommended that fracture risk should be assessed using the freely available online FRAX tool in all postmenopausal women, and men age 50 years or more, who have risk factors for sustaining a fracture. 

A circulating marker of bone remodelling is associated with cognition in older age

Steven Bradburn is a PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University. His research interests focus on age-related cognitive decline and physical functioning in later life. He recently published Association between Osteocalcin and Cognitive Performance in Healthy Older Adults in Age and Ageing journal.

Cognitive decline and reductions in bone health regularly co-manifest during advancing age. Previous studies have shown relationships between bone mineral density and risks of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline, especially in older women. This raises the possibility that factors related to bone regulation and function may also influence cognitive wellbeing.

In our study, using the cross-sectional MyoAge cohort, we evaluated the relationship between bone mineral density and proteins related to bone metabolism in the blood with measures of cognitive functioning in physically and mentally healthy older adults.