INFLUENCE OF EARLY AGE AT MENOPAUSE ON VERTEBRAL BONE MASS

Menopause leads to rapid bone loss, mainly as a result of estrogen def iciency superimposed on the age-related linear bone loss. The influenc e of age at menopause on bone loss is unclear, although early menopaus e is widely considered a risk factor for osteoporosis. Vertebral bone mineral density (BMD) was measured in 1667 women divided into five gro ups according to hormonal status and age at menopause. Menopausal stat us was an independent predictor of BMD in a multiregression analysis, along with current age, years since menopause (YSM), weight, and heigh t. For the same chronologic age (55 years), women with early menopause had a 15% lower BMD and a higher YSM than women whose menopause occur red later (''normal'' menopause). After adjusting for the interval sin ce menopause, postmenopausal women with early menopause were found to have lower vertebral BMD than postmenopausal women with normal menopau se. Finally, after the age of 60, 66% of the women with early menopaus e had a BMD that was below the fracture threshold compared to 18% of t he women with normal menopause. The results of this cross-sectional st udy suggest that early menopause is associated with a quantitatively h igher bone loss than in women with menopause of later onset and thus c onstitutes a risk factor for osteoporosis;