OSTEOARTHRITIS IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is the most common disease of women after menopause. There are many factors to develop the disease. Hormones play important role to in this context. The objective of the present study is to determine whether the levels of thyroid and sex hormones are associated with osteoarthritis (OA) in postmenopausal women. Forty three patients suffering from OA and twenty control subjects were included in this study. Thyroid and sex hormones were measured in the serum by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay technique.  In OA patients serum estrogen levels were low as compared to control subjects(p<0.001), but these patients did not show any significant change in thyroid hormones and progesterone hormone levels when compared with control subjects.  The findings suggest that estrogen deficiency after menopause may contribute to develop OA in postmenopausal women.