ABSTRACT
Increased ß-adrenergic receptor activity has been hypothesized to cause bone loss in those with dementia. We investigated the effect of long-term ß-blocker use on rate of bone loss in older adults with dementia. We used a linear mixed-effects model to estimate the relationship between long-term ß-blocker use and rate of bone loss in participants from the Health Aging and Body Composition study. Records of 1198 participants were analyzed, 44.7% were men. Among the men, 25.2% had dementia and 20.2% were on ß-blockers, while in the women, 22.5% had dementia and 16.6% received ß-blockers. In the 135 men with dementia, 23 were taking ß-blockers, while 15 of 149 women with dementia were using ß-blockers. In men with dementia, ß-blocker users had 0.00491 g/cm2 less bone mineral density (BMD) loss per year at the femoral neck (i.e., 0.63% less loss per year) than non-users (p < 0.05). No differences were detected in women with or without dementia and men without dementia. ß-blockers may be protective by slowing down bone loss in older men with dementia.