Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Apr;102(4):389-402.
doi: 10.1111/cen.15203. Epub 2025 Jan 27.

'Bone Health-Across a Woman's Lifespan'

Affiliations
Review

'Bone Health-Across a Woman's Lifespan'

Gabrielle Stokes et al. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2025 Apr.

Abstract

Despite a high burden of osteoporosis and minimal trauma fractures worldwide, there is still a treatment gap in timely diagnosis and optimal treatment. There is also a lack of international consensus and guidelines on the management of bone fragility in premenopausal women. This review article provides an overview of the current understanding of factors impacting women's bone health across the adult lifespan, as well as dilemmas in the diagnosis, assessment and management of osteoporosis in premenopausal and postmenopausal women, premature ovarian insufficiency and bone health following breast cancer.

Keywords: bone; fracture; oestrogen replacement therapy; osteoporosis; postmenopause; premenopause.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Bone mass across the lifespan.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Annual lumbar spine BMD change with adjuvant endocrine breast cancer therapy. Adapted and updated from ‘Assessment and management of bone health in women with oestrogen receptor‐positive breast cancer receiving endocrine therapy: Position statement of the Endocrine Society of Australia, the Australian and New Zealand Bone & Mineral Society, the Australasian Menopause Society and the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia’.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The impact of oestrogen deficiency and menopause on bone mineral density and bone turnover.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Overview of bone health across the lifespan in women.

References

    1. Curtis E. M., van der Velde R., Moon R. J., et al., “Epidemiology of Fractures in the United Kingdom 1988–2012: Variation With Age, Sex, Geography, Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status,” Bone 87 (2016): 19–26, 10.1016/j.bone.2016.03.006. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nguyen N. D., Ahlborg H. G., Center J. R., Eisman J. A., and Nguyen T. V., “Residual Lifetime Risk of Fractures in Women and Men1*,” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 22, no. 6 (2009): 781–788, 10.1359/jbmr.070315. - DOI - PubMed
    1. LeBoff M. S., Greenspan S. L., Insogna K. L., et al., “The Clinician's Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis,” Osteoporosis International 33, no. 10 (2022): 2049–2102, 10.1007/s00198-021-05900-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gregson C. L., Armstrong D. J., Bowden J., et al., “UK Clinical Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis,” Archives of Osteoporosis 17, no. 1 (2022): 58, 10.1007/s11657-022-01061-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Camacho P. M., Petak S. M., Binkley N., et al., “American Association OF Clinical Endocrinologists/American College of Endocrinology Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment OF Postmenopausal Osteoporosis‐ 2020 Update Executive Summary,” Endocrine Practice: Official Journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 26, no. 5 (2020): 564–570, 10.4158/GL-2020-0524. - DOI - PubMed