Precedence of bone loss over changes in body composition and body fat distribution within a few years after menopause.
OBJECTIVE
The present study investigated the sequence of certain phenomena with a few years after menopause: bone mineral loss, decrease in lean body mass, increase in body fat mass, or the shift toward upper body fat distribution.


METHODS
Subjects were 64 postmenopausal women aged 50-53 years with right side dominance (mean age+/-S.D., 51.4+/-1.1 years), and 59 age-matched regularly menstruating premenopausal women (51.7+/-1.2 years) serving as controls. Height, weight, body mass index (BMI, wt./ht.(2)), age at menopause (in postmenopausal women), and years since menopause (YSM) were recorded. Anthropometries, bone mineral density (BMD), and body fat distribution were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.


RESULTS
Age at menopause and YSM in postmenopausal women were 51.7+/-1.2 and 2.3+/-1.7 years, respectively. Age, height, weight, BMI did not differ between the two groups. BMD of the bilateral arm, lumbar spine (L2-4), pelvis, and total body were significantly lower in postmenopausal women. However, leg BMD, trunk-leg fat ratio, body fat mass, and the lean body mass did not differ between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Within a few years after menopause, bone mineral loss precedes lean mass loss, increase in body fat mass, and a shift toward upper body fat distribution. We can say that bone tissue is more sensitive to hypogonadism than lean and fat tissues are.
Douchi
Tsutomu
T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan. tomy@m3.kufm.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
Kosha
Shoichiro
S
Uto
Hirofumi
H
Oki
Toshimichi
T
Nakae
Mitsuhiro
M
Yoshimitsu
Nobuyuki
N
Nagata
Yukihiro
Y
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*