Menopause and Bone Health: What Every Woman Should Know

On the face of it, the transition through menopause seems simple enough: you stop ovulating and your reproductive years come to an end. And, maybe you have some hot flashes to mark this transition.

For the 1.3 million women who enter menopause each year, the reality is much different and symptoms run much deeper — including bone deep.

Since May is National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, the team of women’s health experts here at Eveskare, which is under the direction of board-certified OB/GYN Dr. Sridevi Panchamukhi, takes on bone health and menopause in this month’s blog post.

Bone health and menopause by the numbers

Let’s set the stage with some eye-opening statistics about menopause and bone loss. First, around 44 million Americans have low bone density and about 10 million people have turned the corner into full blown osteoporosis, which translates to porous bones.

As a result of these weakened bones, about half of women will break a bone because of low bone density, as well as 1 in 4 men.

Which brings us to why women are more prone to low bone density and osteoporosis, which we explore next.

Women and osteoporosis

There are two main issues that place women at far greater risk of osteoporosis than their male counterparts.

First, quite simply, women’s bones are naturally weaker than a man’s so they’re more vulnerable to fractures in general.

More influential is the role that estrogen hormones play in bone health. Your bones are living tissues that are constantly rebuilding, with new bone replacing old bone at about the same rate to ensure that your bones remain strong. Estrogen helps maintain this balance by slowing the rate at which your bones break down.

So, when you transition through menopause and your estrogen hormone levels drop precipitously, the breakdown in your bones can start to ramp up and outpace your body's ability to replace lost bone tissue.

And this can happen quickly — women lose, on average, about 20% of their bone density in the first five years after menopause.

So, between the naturally weaker bones and the loss of estrogen, women are twice as likely to develop osteoporosis and incur fractures after the age of 50.

Keeping your bones healthy through menopause

The good news is that there are several ways in which can protect against bone loss after menopause, including:

• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen hormones
• Calcium and vitamin D supplements
• Strength training, which can keep bones strong through muscle tension
• Medications to slow bone loss, such as bisphosphonates

There are other lifestyle recommendations we can make, such as reducing alcohol consumption, that can also help in the battle to maintain healthy bones.

The earlier you take action to protect your bones, the better, so please contact our office in Frisco, Texas, today to figure out your best bone health strategies. You can start by calling 469-966-2423 or requesting an appointment using our online scheduling tool.