Changes in jaw bone in middle age may predict height loss in women: Study

Mid-life structural changes in the jawbone may indicate later height loss in women, according to new research published in the journal BMJ Open. Aggravation of degenerative processes including skeletal deformities and/or osteoporosis, fallen arches in the feet and altered posture, compression or loss of spinal discs, and vertebral fractures are thought to be some of the causes of this type of height reduction in women. which grow rapidly. Up to age 75 and older is associated with an increased risk of poor health and death.

Researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and other Swedish institutions studied the jawbones of 933 women aged 38, 46 and 54 in Gothenburg. These women were part of a larger study that began in 1968, and their health and dental health were examined. Increase in monitoring period at least twice.

They assessed the general bone health of their jawbones by looking for cortical erosion, or the loss of the outer layer of bone, and trabecular sparseness, which is the thinning of rods in the inner ‘honeycomb’ interior, to understand whether These qualities may indicate the next height loss in middle aged women.

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They calculated the decrease in women’s height over three periods of 12–13 years from 1968 to 2005, with each observation interval increasing the age of the women. On average, females were found to lose weight by 0.9 centimeters (cm), 1 cm and 2.4 cm, respectively, at each observation interval.

Women with severe cortical erosion increased by just over 3 percent in the first interval, just over 11 percent in the second, and just under 50 percent in the third. Similarly, the prevalence of sparse trabeculations increased from 20 percent to 33.5 percent and nearly 42 percent in the three intervals.

In each of these intervals, height loss was greatest in those with severe cortical erosion and sparse trabeculation. While cortical erosion provided a significant predictor of height reduction after 12 years, sparse trabeculation could predict significant bone shrinkage over the same period.

The researchers reported that the structural changes in the jawbone in females probably resemble those of their vertebrae or spine, which may explain the reduction in height and thus are important for height reduction as well as osteoporosis.

They suggested that dentists, most likely to see these changes on X-rays during routine checkups, should work with patients’ doctors to open up potential opportunities for prevention. However, being an observational study, no cause-and-effect relationship could be made, he said.