Osteoarthritis and Hormones

A dramatic increase in osteoarthritis in women after menopause suggests that decreased female hormones would be a major factor. And many studies have come to the same conclusion. Here are four of them:

Estrogen Replacement and Hip Osteoarthritis

A 1996 study by Dr. Genant at the University of California, San Francisco, was titled “Association of estrogen replacement therapy with the risk of osteoarthritis of the hip in elderly white women.” This study examined 4,366 postmenopausal women who were over the age of 65. They used hip X-rays to assess the state of the hip joint throughout the study. They found that women who took oral estrogen had a 38% reduced risk of developing osteoarthritis of the hip. The authors concluded that “Postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy may protect against OsteoArthritis of the hip.”

Estrogen Replacement and Knee Osteoarthritis

Dr. Zhang of Boston University School of Medicine published a study called “Estrogen replacement therapy and worsening of radiographic knee osteoarthritis: the Framingham Study.” They studied 551 postmenopausal women over eight years with periodic X-rays of the knees. The study concluded that women using estrogen replacement had a 60% decrease in osteoarthritis compared to non-users.

Estrogen Replacement and Large-joint Osteoarthritis

A 2010 study compared 3,147 patients with severe osteoarthritis to 2,381 who did not have the disease. The results, published in the journal “Osteoarthritis Cartilage” by Dr. Riancho, stated, “These results are consistent with the hypothesis that estrogen activity may influence the development of large-joint osteoarthritis.”

Estrogen Replacement and Cartilage Health

A 30-year study by Dr. Tankó from Denmark concluded that “The effects of estrogen on articular cartilage further corroborate the due consideration of estrogen therapy for maintaining not only bone but also cartilage health in postmenopausal women.”

Mainstream medicine and the pharmaceutical industry still refute these and other studies and still recommend the use of NSAIDs rather than hormone replacement therapy. We recommend you do your research and consider preventative steps by using bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.