The menopause coincides with the appearance of many of the common arthritic
conditions and with the lessening of severity of others such as SLE. The h
ormonal changes that occur may modulate these diseases. Thus, hormonal mani
pulation may have either beneficial or detrimental effects on the incidence
and activity of a number of common joint diseases. We review the evidence
regarding the effect of the menopause and oestrogen replacement therapy on
the pathogenesis, incidence and prevalence and disease activity of osteoart
hritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and carpal tunne
l syndrome. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.