Life-style and bone mineral mass in perimenopausal women

Abstract

The bone mineral content of the forearms was measured in 395 women, aged 49, and correlated with menarche, menopause, parity, lactation, contraceptives, diet, smoking, and physical activity. Late menarche and early menopause were associated with a lower than average bone mineral content whereas the life-style parameters were not.

PIP: The bone mineral content of the forearms was measured in 395 women 49 years of age and correlated with menstrual and reproductive history and life-style factors. At the time of the study, 108 subjects had reached menopause. These subjects, as well as those with a later than average menarche, had a lower than average bone mineralcontent. However, neither reproductive history variables (parity, contraception, and lactation) nor life-style factors (dietary calcium, smoking, and physical activity level) influenced the bone mineral mass, even when premenopausal and postmenopausal subjects were analyzed separately. In addition, the width of the bones did not differ between women with early and late menarche or menopause, although there was a tendency toward wider bones in smokers and parous women. These data suggest a relationship between a short fertile period and low bone mineral mass. It is noted that, although the rate of bone loss was not shown to be influenced by factors such as parity, use of oral contraceptives, physical exercise, or smoking, differences associated with these variables may emerge in later years.