The female hormone oestrogen is essential for healthy bones. After the menopause, oestrogen levels fall. This can lead to a rapid decrease in bone density.
Causes of Osteoporosis: Low Estrogen in Women
Bone loss accelerates after menopause, when older women have a quick drop in estrogen. Over time, the risk of osteoporosis and fracture increases as older women lose more bone than they replace.
Estrogen (E) deficiency causes both the early and late forms of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and contributes to the development of osteoporosis in elderly men (1).
Postmenopausal women are susceptible to primary osteoporosis since osteoporosis is closely related to estrogen deficiency. During the menopausal transition period, the drop of estrogen leads to more bone resorption than formation, resulting in osteoporosis.
If you have a high risk for osteoporosis and are approaching or have already reached menopause, estrogen replacement therapy may be a good osteoporosis treatment or preventative measure.
Estrogen-hormone Therapy: Prevents osteoporosis by reducing the breakdown of bone, what is also called bone resorption. Current treatments are very effective and lower the risk of further harm.
The short answer is no, osteoporosis cannot be completely reversed and is not considered curable, but there are a number of health and lifestyle adjustments you can make to improve bone loss. Your provider may also prescribe you medications to help rebuild and slow down bone loss.
HRT causes your oestrogen levels to increase. This can help to prevent bone loss and reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis and of breaking bones. If you already have osteoporosis or a high risk of breaking bones, HRT can help to strengthen your bones and make fractures less likely.
Hormone replacement therapy is well documented to reduce the increased bone turnover induced by oestrogen deficiency and, as a result, it prevents bone loss after the menopause. It has been shown that this effect leads to a significant reduction in osteoporotic fracture rates.
Abstract. Osteoporosis is a serious health issue among aging postmenopausal women. The majority of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis have bone loss related to estrogen deficiency. The rapid bone loss results from an increase in bone turnover with an imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation.
Estrogen hormone therapy prevents bone loss and reduces the risk of fracture in the spine and hip. It can also relieve other symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.
Calcitonin is a hormone that plays a role in regulating the level of calcium in your blood by decreasing it.
Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, jogging, and climbing stairs, can help you build strong bones and slow bone loss.
Compression fractures
The bones that make up your spine (vertebrae) can weaken to the point that they crumple and collapse, which may result in back pain, lost height and a hunched posture. Bone fractures, particularly in the spine or hip, are the most serious complications of osteoporosis.
You can prevent bone loss with regular exercise, such as walking. If you have osteoporosis or fragile bones, regular brisk walking can help to keep your bones strong and reduce the risk of a fracture in the future.
Using an intention-to-treat approach, they found an increase in spine BMD of about 2% after 12 months of HRT that continued to increase through year 3, peaking at 4%. We observed an increase in spinal BMD of 4.3% after only 9 months of standard HRT.
The International Menopause Society guidelines recommend that if menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is prescribed, it be commenced before the age of 60, or within 10 years of menopause.