[The menopause and bone metabolism].
The author first makes clear the distinction between osteopenia, a physiological phenomenon which occurs in both sexes from the fourth decade onwards, and osteoporosis, which is expressed by spontaneous vertebral compression. Osteoporosis appears when osteopenia progresses below a certain threshold, which is attained more often in the woman than in the aged man. Physiologically osteopenia is accelerated in the woman at the time of, and after, the menopause, and oestrogens are capable of preventing this decline, at least for several years. Calcium therapy slows down the decline by 50%. The inconvenience of oestrogen treatments, their suspensive and provisional character, as well as the lesser efficacy of calcium therapy, should make very useful a practical method for distinguishing subjects who are threatened from those who are not.
D000328:Adult; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000378:metabolism*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000378:metabolism; D002118:Calcium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004967:Estrogens / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control
D004967:Estrogens; D002117:Calcitriol; D002118:Calcium
Ménopause et métabolisme osseux.