WUNRN
Women who reach menopause early are at significantly greater risk for osteoporosis and bone fracture later in life, a Swedish study has found.
Researchers recruited 390 48-year-old women in 1977 and followed them for more than 34 years, evaluating their bone health. For this study, 198 of the women were still available.
After controlling for age, body mass index, smoking, calcium intake and other factors, the scientists found that compared with other women, those who reached menopause before age 48 had an 80 percent increased risk of osteoporosis, a 68 percent increased risk of bone fracture, and a 60 percent increased risk of death. The results appear online in the journal BJOG.
The study has considerable strengths — an ethnically homogeneous population of exactly the same age, and an extremely long prospective follow-up. But as in all observational studies, there is the possibility of unknown confounding factors.
The reasons for the findings are unclear, but the authors say it may be that hormonal changes of menopause lead to a reduction in bone mineral density and that fracture incidence leads to increased mortality risk.
“I can’t categorically say that there aren’t other factors behind these findings,” said the lead author, Dr. Ola Svejme, an orthopedic surgeon at Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden.
Still, he added, menopausal women “should have bone density measurements taken in the first decade after menopause.”