Women with hot flashes during menopause likelier to fracture hips later

Washington: A new research has revealed the association between menopausal symptoms and bone health.

The study at the University of California found that women who experience moderate to severe hot flashes and night sweats during menopause tend to have lower bone mineral density and higher rates of hip fracture than peers who do not have menopausal symptoms.

Menopause is the life stage when a woman's ovaries stop producing hormones and her menstrual periods stop and about 60 percent of women experience hot flashes, which can last for several years. Postmenopausal women face a greater risk of developing osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become structurally weak and more likely to break, than either younger women or men.

The risk for this group is higher because the menopausal transition speeds the body's normal process of bone loss and in postmenopausal women, the body tends to breaks down old bone tissue faster than it can be replaced.

Researcher Carolyn J. Crandall said that this is the first large cohort study to examine the relationship between menopausal symptoms and bone health in menopausal women. The analysis found women who reported having moderate or severe hot flashes when they entered the study were more likely to fracture a hip during the follow-up period than women who had no menopausal symptoms.

After researchers adjusted for age, body mass index and demographic factors, they found women who had moderate to severe menopausal symptoms had lower bone mass density at the neck and spine during the follow-up period than women with no symptoms.

Crandall added that improved understanding would help clinicians advise women on how to better prevent osteoporosis and other bone conditions and women who have hot flashes and want to protect their bones may benefit from healthy lifestyle habits such as avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, exercising and getting sufficient calcium and vitamin D.

The study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.