Depression also affects bone health. A long-term American study of 170,000 women found it to be a significant risk factor for fractures in women over age 50.

The U.S. National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment (NORA) study was presented in November 2006 at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. "[It] reinforces the need for physicians to screen for depression during routine primary care," says study principal investigator Ethel S. Siris, MD, professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. "This is a common and serious problem that also turns out to predict risk for fractures."