Although most people experience some bone loss as they age, such preventive measures as adequate calcium intake, weight-bearing exercise, and estrogen replacement therapy can help keep it in check. But some researchers theorize that hormones may be a factor. One study found that women receiving estrogen replacement had 40 percent less Alzheimer's disease than women who did not receive hormone replacement. One study of married couples found that at least one-fourth of the women surveyed had endured at least one incident of domestic violence, and in 1 of 14 of these marriages, the violence was regarded as severe and repetitive. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 25 percent of women who are murdered are killed by a present or former male intimate.
Domestic violence is second only to car accidents as a cause for female emergency room visits.
Domestic violence cuts across all social, racial, and economic lines, although in a large number of cases, alcohol and drug use and low income status are contributing factors. A family history of domestic violence is also a risk factor men who were abused as children or witnessed domestic violence at home are apt to become wife batterers themselves, and women who come from a home where violence was a fact of life are more likely to become victims themselves. Women caught in a web of domestic violence often feel they have no alternatives, but with increasing awareness of the problem, most communities now have support groups and shelters for battered women.