Menopause is associated with a variety of symptoms in women, such as hot flashes and mood swings, among others. However, it also promotes a number of other, less obvious problems - one of the most serious being osteoporosis. Why can the menopause lead to a weakening of bone structure and in which women is the risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis highest?
Menopause is a time when a woman's body starts to function markedly differently - the main changes involve the concentrations of various sex hormones. During menopause, women experience a decrease in oestrogen and progesterone concentrations, which results in bothersome menopausal symptoms and other problems.
The correlation between the menopause and osteoporosis may seem surprising, but in practice it is due to the fact that female sex hormones have a very significant effect on the human skeleton. For example, oestrogens regulate the function of cells involved in the processes of bone reconstruction and resorption, such as osteoclasts, osteocytes and osteoblasts - when the concentration of these hormones in the female body decreases, the effect may be a weakening of the bone structure.
Osteoporosis associated with the menopause is dangerous in that, even over a long period of time, the patient may experience a gradual deterioration of the bone structure, while this may not cause any symptoms. In the case of advanced osteoporosis , fractures may occur even after sneezing or coughing. For this reason, those women who have an increased risk of perimenopausal osteoporosis should remember to attend appropriate examinations - patients with eating disorders, women who smoke cigarettes and abuse alcohol, and those whose relatives have suffered from osteoporosis, among others, are at risk.