The Effect of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women

Cho, S; Kim, W S; Park, J H; Won, Y S; Hwang, S W; Koh, S K; Lee, B I; Lee, W Y

Abstract

Hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) prevents postmenopausal bone loss by inhibiting bone resorption. Several case-control studies have shown that HRT appeared to be more effective for older women than early menopausal women, and women who had low bone mineral density (BMD) were better responded than women had high BMD on HRT. A retrospective study was performed to clarify whether the later postmenopausal use of HRT was more effective. BMD was measured prior to HRT and 1 year after the treatment in 83 menopausal women. The result was compared with 10 women who didn`t take HRT. Spinal BMD was increased in HRT users by 4.23% (p=0.0001), but decreased in nonusers by 2.1% (p= 0.232). The difference according to HRT regimen didn`t show any statistical significance. The longer the duration of menopause and the lower the initial bone mineral density, the highr the effectiveness of HRT was noted. Two (33.3%) of 6 women who had taken HRT within 3 years after menopause lowered the fracture risk, but only one (5.2%) in 19 women who had taken HRT after 3 years from menopause improved the bone mineral density above the fracture threshold. This study revealed that the earlier HRT might be more effective to keep the spinal BMD above the fracture threshold and to prevent osteoprosis in menopausal women.