title: Influence of the menopause and aging on spinal density in French women.
abstract: Dual photon absorptiometry (DPA) was used to measure the bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine in 510 normal women from the south of France. Long-term precision was 2.2%. BMD was stable in young adults and again in women over 70 years of age. Perimenopausal women at an average age of 51 years already evidenced a slight bone diminution (5%) compared to young adults and women within 2 years of the menopause already had a 10% diminution. The average rate of apparent bone loss in this cross-sectional study was 1% per year from age 45 to 65 years, but about 75% of this decrease occurred in the first decade after the menopause. Spinal BMD in our normal French population appears to be 5-10% lower than US values.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Centre Hospitalier Purpan, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ribot
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tremollieres
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pouilles
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Louvet
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guiraud
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008903:Minerals / Q000032:analysis; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D013131:Spine / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals