Arthritis and the Menopause
Joint Pain And Hormone Changes at the Menopause
I've often seen women experience joint pain more often around the time of the menopause. Pains in the hands and the shoudlers seem to be most common but I also see an increase in neck pain or back pain as the hormone levels begin to change and the hot flushes or hot flashes start.
Until now there has been no real science to back up this situation but a new report has shed light on what might be happening.
You can read more about this here but in essence this is what the scientists have found:
I've often seen women experience joint pain more often around the time of the menopause. Pains in the hands and the shoudlers seem to be most common but I also see an increase in neck pain or back pain as the hormone levels begin to change and the hot flushes or hot flashes start.
Until now there has been no real science to back up this situation but a new report has shed light on what might be happening.
You can read more about this here but in essence this is what the scientists have found:
- women with the lowest levels of oestrogen just before the start of their menopause are most likely to develop arthritis
- the researchers are not clear yet if the drop in oestrogen is the cause of arthritis or whether the two problems simply happen to arise at around the same stage of a womans life
- overweight women are more likely to develop osteoarthritis and the scientists believe that this is partly due to lower hormone levels and partly due to stress on the joints because of carrying excess weight
