THE INCIDENCE OF OSTEOPOROSIS IN NORMAL WOMEN: ITS RELATION TO AGE AND MENOPAUSE

Abstract

The spine, hands and femur were X-rayed in 152 normal women between 19 and 83 years of age. Metacarpal and femoral cortical thickness and vertebral density all tended to fall with age, particularly after the fifth decade. Vertebral biconcavity, on the other hand, did not develop. When the indices of osteoporosis were related to the menopause it was observed that the fall in vertebral density occurred about five years after the menopause, metacarpal cortical thickness started to fall about 10 years after the menopause and femoral cortical thickness about five years later still. The results suggest that the osteoporotic process commences or accelerates in women soon after the menopause but cannot be taken to signify that this process is necessarily a normal or physiological one.