Study finds link between hot flashes and lower bone density in women

FINDINGS: UCLA researchers and colleagues analyzed data for 2,213 women between the ages of 42 and 52 who participated in the bone sub-study of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation to determine whether women with vasomotor symptoms (VMS) — which include hot flashes and night sweats — had lower bone mineral density. The researchers found that postmenopausal women with VMS had lower lumbar and total hip bone mineral density than those without VMS. Premenopausal women and early perimenopausal women who had VMS were found to have lower femoral neck bone mineral density than those without VMS.

AUTHORS: UCLA study co-authors Dr. Carolyn J. Crandall, associate clinical professor of general internal medicine and health services research; Gail A. Greendale, professor of medicine in geriatrics; and Yan Zheng, of the division of general internal medicine and health services research, are available for interviews.

JOURNAL: The research appeared in the March/April 2009 issue of the journal Menopause.

FUNDING: The National Institute on Aging, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health supported this study.

Source: University of California - Los Angeles