Early menopause raises risk of osteoporosis and early death

A woman whose menopause arrives early has nearly double the risk of suffering form osteoporosis later on, compared to other females, researchers from Skåne University Hospital, Malmo, Sweden, reported in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The researchers explained that their study looked at what long-term effects early menopause might have on osteoporosis risk, mortality, and the risk of fragility fracture. 390 Caucasian women, average age 48, from northern Europe were recruited in the Malmo Perimenopausal Study. In this observational study, the females were regularly followed-up after the age of 48. The authors divided the women into two groups: Those whose menopause started before they were 47 years old Those whose menopause started after they were 47 years old All of them had their BMD (bone mineral density) measured. When they were 77 years old, the eligible ones had their BMD measured again. By this time, 92 of them had died and 298 were still alive. 100 of the 298 women had dropped out of the study, either because they have moved out of the area, or they did not want to participate any more. This left 198 participants attending follow-up measurement sessions. 56% of the early-menopause women had osteoporosis by the age of 77, compared to 30% in the other group. A higher risk of fragility fracture and mortality (early death) was also observed in the early-menopause group. The mortality rate in the late (normal) menopause group was 35.2%, compared to 52.4% in the early menopause group. 44.3% of the women in the early-menopause group had a fracture, compare to 30.7% in the other group. Senior author, orthopedic surgeon, Ola Svejme, said: "The results of this study suggest that early menopause is a significant risk factor for osteoporosis, fragility fracture and mortality in a long-term perspective. To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study with a follow-up period of more than three decades." Pierre Martin-Hirsch, BJOG Deputy Editor-in-Chief, , wrote: "The study's strength is the length of time the women were observed. The higher mortality rate in women with an early menopause needs to be explored further as many other factors could affect this such as medication, nutrition, smoking and alcohol consumption."