Premenopausal Osteoporosis - What Are the Osteoporosis Risk Factors pre-45?

Your skeleton is at its most robust and healthiest in young adulthood, but in the mid-thirties you gradually start to lose bone mass as a natural part of getting older.

Once you're postmenopausal you lose bone faster because your body no longer has the supply of oestrogen which stops the bones from becoming thinner and more breakable.

Although about one fifth of women aged between 60 and 69 have some degree of osteoporosis, the disease only occurs in younger women who have specific risk factors.

"Premenopausal" osteoporosis - osteoporosis that occurse after premature menopause

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You're more likely to develop osteoporosis premenopausally if you've:

• gone through the menopause early (before 45), at an age when most women are still premenopausal
• had a hysterectomy before you were 45, especially if your ovaries were removed as well as your uterus
• used the contraceptive injection Depomedrone for three years or more
• had a spell of more than six months without menstruating - this can be happen if you have exercised over-zealously, or have had an eating disorder
• suffered from a disease which affects the balance of your hormones, such as over-active thyroid, disorders of adrenal or pituitary glands or diabetes

There's quite a list of general osteoporosis risk factors. Other factors which can make a premenopausal woman more prone to developing osteoporosis include:

• if someone in your immediate family has osteoporosis
• you've had a prolonged time of physical inactivity, for example during or following a serious illness
• you smoke
• you're a sufferer of coeliac disease or Crohn's disease, which affect the absorbtion of nutrients in your gut
• you've been treated longterm with steroids, often used for arthritis and asthma
• your diet is low in calcium and Vitamin D because you have a poor diet and don't spend enough time in sunlight. Adequate calcium is essential to prevent osteoporosis.
• your body weight is exceptionally low (BMI 19 or below)

Make sure you follow recommendations on how to prevent osteoporosis if you think you're at risk of developing premenopausal osteoporosis.

Go from Premenopausal Osteoporosis to Exercises for Osteoporosis.

Go from Premenopausal Osteoporosis to Beat Menopause Weight Gain.