Wrinkles are an unwelcome sign of aging for most people and now menopausal women have another reason to fear them - they are a sign of fragile bones. Scientists found that the more severe the wrinkles, the lower the bone density - increasing the risk of fractures. The findings could replace expensive tests to see how at risk a woman is. The results, which were presented to The Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Boston, were presented by a team led by Yale university's Lubna Pal. She said: 'In postmenopausal women the appearance of the skin may offer a glimpse of the skeletal well-being, a relationship not previously described. 'This information may allow for the possibility of identifying postmenopausal women at fracture risk at a glance, without dependence on costly tests.' Her work was a follow up study to research which had examined women in their late 40s or early 50s in early menopause. They were scored for face and neck wrinkles, with depth and number taken into account. Skin firmness at the forehead and cheek was also examined, and an ultrasound was used to check bone density. Women who had undergone cosmetic surgery were ruled out of the study Dr Pal's team found a significant link between the wrinkle score and the bone density - the higher the score, the lower the density. This was true across the skeleton and independent of other factors such as age. Firmer skin was linked to greater bone density. Dr Pal said that the reason behind the association may seem unclear, but explained that the skin and the bones share the same building blocks - proteins known as collagens. As we age, these change, affecting both the skin and the bones. She said: 'Ultimately, we want to know if intensity of skin wrinkles can allow identification of women who are more likely to fracture a bone, especially the femoral neck or the hip, an often fatal injury in older people. 'If this is the case, then including the study of skin wrinkles to other clinical risk factors may allow identification of fracture risk in populations that do not have access to more costly technology.' Source: DailyMail.com