The menopauseyou know, in many cases it brings with it a greater fragility of boneswhich manifests itself with osteoporosis. Prevention, which consists in “putting bone tissue on the farm” during youth with a healthy diet and regular physical activity, is obviously fundamental. But it’s also about who might be most at risk among women and when to start checking if the bone is starting to lose its texture.
In this sense, there is a need for efficient markers, perhaps capable of revealing that the bone is losing its natural structure already while the variations in hormonal flows begin. In short: we need a “light” that comes on before menstruation ends. Research from the University of California at Los Angeles tries to locate this beacon: it could be the anti-Müllerian hormone, often referred to as Amh. The study appeared on Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and opens interesting perspectives to really understand who is at greater risk of bone fragility and could therefore benefit from specific approaches for his case.
Beware of over-40s
The availability of this parameter could be useful precisely for women who, having exceeded the threshold of the “door”, want to keep themselves under control even if the life marked by menstrual cycles is still optimal. The research, in particular, focused on women aged at least 42, precisely to evaluate the importance of monitoring the values of this parameter and their usefulness in defining an initial risk of bone loss. In general terms, this phenomenon occurs about a year before the last menstrual loss.
The information deriving from the “Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation” research was examined, starting from a fundamental assumption. In general, the values of the anti-Müllerian hormone tend to decline as you progress towards the end of menstruation. What emerged from the study? Having said that on average 17% of premenopausal women tend to lose bone tissue within a few years, among those who have low hormone values (less than 50 picograms per milliliter of blood) the percentage of women at risk rises to 33%. Similarly, even women who have irregular menstrual bleeding in early perimenoausa with intervals of no more than three months between cycles, in the presence of values below 25 picograms per milliliter bone loss will be particularly significant in this phase in almost two cases. out of three.
Hormone under observation
This latest study once again signals the importance of gynecologist monitoring as we approach the end of the fertile age. And confirms what appeared some time ago on Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolismwith research that already predicted the importance of this parameter in this phase of female life.
In the research, conducted by experts from the University of Colorado in collaboration with scholars from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the anti-Müllerian hormone was already considered a useful parameter for assessing the situation. In that study, over 1,500 women between 42 and 63 years old were evaluated: the analysis revealed that those who had passed the 47-year-old threshold had in at least two thirds of cases the probability of going through menopause in the following year and even more than 80 percent chance of having your last period within twelve months of the test.
In short: we are at the beginning of the investigation. But this check nevertheless represents a step forward in the possibility of identifying the date of the period that distinguishes the age of the woman and therefore of implementing, together with the gynecologist, the various opportunities to approach the question.
An example for all: it is known that in menopause the bones tend to become progressively less robust and osteoporosis may appear. Knowing in advance with a good approximation what will be the evolution of the organism in the following months can be useful to better study the situation and implement the necessary countermeasures.