Abstract
Since the first noted association between ovarian insufficiency and osteoporosis by Albright in 1941, a causal relationship between the loss of ovarian function at the menopause and the development of osteoporosis has become even more evident. In 1967, Young and Nordin in a retrospective study showed that there was a small rise in plasma and urine calcium in postmenopausal women. Subsequently, it was shown that administration of estrogen to postmenopausal women as well as osteoporotics, lowered plasma and urine calcium. The authors carried out a prospective study of the effects of an artificial menopause on plasma and urine calcium and phosphate. In recent years, a number of studies have examined the long term effect of estrogen on the longitudinal rate of bone loss and shown convincingly that estrogen therapy prevents the normal loss of bone seen in postmenopausal women. At the same time, the authors have examined the long term effect of estrogen, and in some cases progestogens, on various biochemical parameters of calcium and phosphate in postmenopausal women.