The ageing process is cruel to women. After a lifetime of periods, childbirths, breastfeeding, the menopause and the discomforts and challenges all theses life stages bring, women are rewarded by their bones disintegrating and their muscle tissue weakening faster than men's. This causes women to have much higher risk of fractures than men, often causing long-term discomfort and disability.
This seems so unfair, after all we have in many cases given life to another human being; done our bit for humanity, and what are the thanks from nature? Zilch!
Whats' the cause of this you may ask?
The answer is Oestrogen, or rather the lack of it as I'll now explain.
Bones are a living thing and are continuously being re-modelled, but after the age of 35 bone break down becomes faster than bone build-up, meaning that we start to gradually lose bone mass. This is related to the delicate balance of hormones in our bodies, mainly Oestrogen. Then, as we enter the Menopause and our Oestrogen levels reduce, bone breakdown starts to overtakes bone buildup, which causes a gradual loss of bone mass. Once this loss of bone reaches a certain point, a person has Osteoporosis.
Early Menopause, either due to natural causes or Hysterectomy, will bring on bone loss earlier, as can smoking and long-term heavy drinking as both affect bone metabolism.