While 45 million Premarin prescriptions were written in medical clinics in the United States in 1995, there have been much leaner years. In the late seventies, the discovery of a link between endometrial cancer and estrogen use caused a precipitous drop in sales of Premarin and other menopausal estrogen products. One thing is certain, the campaign not only restored the fortunes of estrogen use in the treatment of menopause, it also publicized osteoporosis as a terrible disease that menaces all menopausal women with debilitating fractures. Update on Osteoporosis Bones, like our skin, have the ability to regenerate, which means they can continually rebuild themselves so that they remain strong and healthy. Osteoclasts work the surface of the bone and create small openings to prepare the surface for the deposition of new bone material.
Osteoblasts then take over and fill the holes with a material that takes a few days to harden.
The body naturally carries out the process of rebuilding the skeleton and certain factors influence the quality of bone mass. Around the age of 35, bone mass peaks and although bone continues to be remodelled as the body requires, bone mass begins to decrease. The presence or absence of behaviours that strengthened bones in the years prior to age 35 now becomes more important. Decrease in bone mass is a normal phenomenon that occurs in both men and women as they age. Everyone loses bone mass, though only a minority are affected by osteoporosis.