The Effect of Estrogens in Prévention and Treatment of Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disorder of the skeleton characterized by réduction in skeletal mass and a conséquent altération in architecture that increases the risk of fracture (1). The disorder is most évident among postmenopausal women, as Albright pointed out more than 50 years ago (2). In many countries osteoporosis has now been recognized as. a major public health problem. It has been estimated that in the United States there resuit some 1.5 million fractures each year at a cost of $10 to $20 billion (3). An increase in the number of fractures is occurring as the population âges, and in some countries there appears to be an increase in age-specific incidence of the disorder, for reasons that are unknown.