Identification and treatment of postmenopausal women at risk for the development of osteoporosis

One in the three women develops osteoporosis--low bone mass and structural deterioration leading to fractures. Pre- and postmenopausal deficiency states are main causes. Estrogens prevent bone loss: Oral doses of 2 mg estradiol or 0.625 conjugated estrogens/day or 50-100 micrograms transdermal estradiol/day substantially reduce vertebral, forearm, and hip fractures. Certain progestins may enhance this effect. Calcium as a prerequisite for attainment of peak bone mass will not substitute for estrogen replacement. Selection of patients actually being at risk for postmenopausal osteoporosis needs to be improved substantially; there is no sensitive single test or testing system for osteoporosis. As individual history and physical exam or biochemical markers of bone resorption and formation rarely provide the early diagnosis of osteoporosis, prophylactic estrogen replacement therapy has to be considered in the majority of postmenopausal women to achieve prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Compliance of replacement therapy in the European countries is poor, only 5-25% of postmenopausal women use estrogen replacement therapy for more than one year. Major compliance problems are alleged weight gain, resumption of withdrawal bleeding and fear to develop breast or endometrial cancer.