Effects of Neurological Disorders on Bone Health

Abstract

Neurological diseases, particularly in the context of aging, have serious impacts on quality of life and can negatively affect bone health. The brain-bone axis is critically important for skeletal metabolism, sensory innervation, and endocrine cross-talk between these organs. This review discusses current evidence for the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which various neurological disease categories, including autoimmune, developmental, dementia-related, movement, neuromuscular, stroke, trauma, and psychological, impart changes in bone homeostasis and mass, as well as fracture risk. Likewise, how bone may affect neurological function is discussed. Gaining a better understanding of brain-bone interactions, particularly in patients with underlying neurological disorders, may lead to development of novel therapies and discovery of shared risk factors, as well as highlight the need for broad, whole-health clinical approaches toward treatment.

Introductory Chapter: Neurological Disorders - Therapy Approaches

“…; iv) psychotherapy for the treatment of the emotional components of the disease. Drug treatments for many ND, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, anti-epilepsy drugs have independent and overlapping roles in mediating bone loss [5,16].…”

“…Genetic, epigenetic, and various external factors, such as physical trauma, infection, and different aspects of the environmental surroundings can be involved with the initiation and the progression of the ND. Hormonal, immune, and molecular/cellular pathways impact the clinical presentation of the ND involving various systems [5]. Moreover, gut dysbiosis (microbiota dysregulation) has been associated with some neurodegenerative diseases [6].…”

“…Moreover, gut dysbiosis (microbiota dysregulation) has been associated with some neurodegenerative diseases [6]. ND can negatively influence the bone physiology favoring decrease of the bone mineral density and bone mineral content, altered bone microarchitecture, and decrease bone strength, contributing to the development of osteopenia/osteoporosis and increased of risk of fracture [5].…”

“…This condition occurs when the nervous system or neuron loses its structure, function, or both, leading to progressive degeneration or the death of neurons, and well-defined associations of tissue system, resulting in clinical manifestations. Studies have been reported that the neuroinflammation precede neurodegeneration in various ND [5]. In this context, appears that matrix metalloproteinases have a crucial role in the progression of ND related to neurodegeneration, although the etiology and potential causes remain widely indefinable [7].…”

Psychological Factors as Determinants of Chronic Conditions: Clinical and Psychodynamic Advances

“…The involvement of psychological factors in the etiology of chronic diseases is rousing the interest of the scientific community (Conversano, 2019 ; Martino et al, 2019b ; Merlo, 2019 ; Lenzo et al, 2020 ; Vicario et al, 2020 ), leading to an increase in research on neuropsychological correlates of a number of chronic illnesses including cardiovascular disease (Eikeseth et al, 2020 ), diabetes mellitus (Martino et al, 2019a ), bone health (Catalano et al, 2018 ; Fiegl et al, 2019 ; Kelly et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Lauriola et al, 2019 ; Williams et al, 2020 ), fibromyalgia (Veltri et al, 2012 ; Palagini et al, 2016 ; Conversano et al, 2019 ; Marchi et al, 2019 ), as well as neuropsychological problems such as attention and hyperactivity deficit (Fabio et al, 2018 ; Di Giuseppe et al, 2020c ) and post-traumatic stress disorder (Carmassi et al, 2014 , 2018 ; Settineri et al, 2018 ; Conversano et al, 2020a ; Merlo et al, 2020 ; Orrù et al, 2020 ). A number of recent studies have demonstrated that personality traits and implicit emotion regulation are associated with development, progression, recurrence, and severity of chronic illness (Koole and Rothermund, 2011 ; Ciuluvica et al, 2019 ; Settineri et al, 2019 ; Rymarczyk et al, 2020 ).…”