We recently reviewed the literature about major depressive
disorder (MDD) as an additional risk factor for osteoporosis (1,
2). Most of the studies examining the association between depression
and osteoporosis have been conducted in women
whereas the few existing studies on depression and osteoporosis
conducted in men have been limited to the elderly (3,
4). An association between depression and lower BMD has
been reported in elderly Asian men (4), however, the same
association was not observed in community-dwelling, elderly
Caucasian men (3). Very little is known about osteoporosis in
young men (5, 6). Results from the Third National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) show that major
depressive episode (MDE) is associated with 2% lower BMD
at the total proximal femoral level in multivariate models in
young men but not in women (5). The existence of a relationship
between depression and osteoporosis in young men remains
controversial
