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X-Ray Results
POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN BONE HEALTH & HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

HRT & Post-Menopausal Women

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a very well documented treatment for the older population, especially for older post-menopausal women. In addition to a more prevalent overall quality of life increase, the most notable benefit is the increase of bone mineral density (BMD). BMD is what makes bones resistant to fractures. In elderly women BMD declines 1% to as much as 5% every year after menopause. Through the years as elderly women get older, their bones get progressively more brittle and are subject to life threatening fractures. Hip fractures are most common in elderly women, and far too many die within one year from complications (Stevenson 2005). This can be prevented.

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Increasing Bone Strength With HRT & Exercise

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The use of HRT on older women shows a passive increase in BMD without exercise; however, there is an enormous benefit to exercising while on HRT. Exercise with resistance training studies show a greater statistical increase in bone strength using HRT vs. a similar group on HRT that does not exercise at all over the same period of time. These BMD increases are extremely valuable in common fracture areas; such as the hip and lumbar spine (Villareal 2003).
To summarize, while we are growing up our bones remodel themselves to be stronger in response to resistance. This remodeling is carried out by a complex system of hormones. Older people lose the ability to make certain hormones over time. To put it simply: no hormones; no bone remodeling.

References:

Stevenson, J. C. (2005). Justification for the use of HRT in the long-term prevention of osteoporosis. Maturitas, 51(2), 113-126. doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2005.01.012

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Villareal, D. T., Binder, E. F., Yarasheski, K. E., Williams, D. B., Brown, M., Sinacore, D. R., & Kohrt, W. M. (2003). Effects of exercise training added to ongoing hormone replacement therapy on bone mineral density in frail elderly women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 51(7), 985-990. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2389.2003.51312.x

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