Early menopause with premature ovarian insufficiency linked to sarcopenia among women
Menopausal transition, resulting from a decline in estrogen concentrations, may compromise musculoskeletal health. However, it is unclear if early menopause (defined as age at menopause <45 years) and premature ovarian insufficiency (defined as age at menopause <40 years) are associated with increased risk of sarcopenia.
A team of researchers led by Efstathios Divaris from the Unit of Reproductive Endocrinology, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece have highlighted in findings of their research that women entering menopause at an earlier age of less than 45 years experience decrease in muscle mass. Entering menopause earlier than 40 years lower muscle strength and performance.
The findings of the study have been published in Maturitas entitled “Early menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency may increase the risk of sarcopenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis”
It is already known that Menopausal transition compromises musculoskeletal health due to a decline in estrogen levels. There needs to be more data on the association of early-age menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency with sarcopenia risk.
This background was studied in the present study using data from PubMed, CENTRAL and Scopus up to 31 December 2022.
The critical points of the summary are:
- Six studies were included, with a total of 18,291 post-menopausal women.
- Compared to women of normal age at menopause (>45 years), women with early menopause have lower muscle mass. This was assessed using appendicular skeletal muscle mass/body mass index.
- There are no differences in muscle strength, assessed by handgrip strength and muscle performance, assessed by gait speed.
- Women with premature ovarian insufficiency had lower handgrip strength and gait speed than women of normal age at menopause.
The researchers concluded that premature menopause with ovarian insufficiency is associated with reduced muscle strength and performance.In conclusion, this study shows that women entering menopause at an earlier age (<45 years) present a decrease in muscle mass, although there was no evidence for such an effect on muscle strength and performance. However, entering menopause earlier than 40 years of age has been associated with lower muscle strength and performance.
Further reading:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378512223003766
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