BEATING OSTEOPOROSIS IF YOU ARE MENOPAUSAL

 

 

Dr Steven R. Goldstein is a Menopause Specialist NYC and was the Co Directory of Bone Densitometry and Body Composition at NYU Langone Medical Center from 1997 to 2016. He writes the Bone Health update for the OBG Management Journal and has worked with thousands of women to help them through the menopause stage of life where many experience issues with bone health. One of the ways to strengthen bone and improve your bone health during menopause is by weight bearing exercises.

 

Many patients ask if they need to worry about doing weight bearing exercises, watching their diet and general health while on hormone replacement therapy for menopause. In a word, yes. If you are smoking cigarettes, find a way to stop. If you are overeating, find a way to lose weight and keep your weight under control. There are hundreds of apps and other means of finding help to lose weight.

 

It’s old news that women can benefit from weight bearing exercise, especially during menopause. Chances are if you aren’t already doing it, it’s because you tried it and didn’t enjoy it or didn’t get the benefit you wanted in the time you gave it. Or your experience might have been like one of my patients who told me:

 

 “The weight room at my health club is filled with twenty year old muscled men pumping major iron in a testosterone feast. It’s pretty intimidating to walk in there. Even so, I’d give it a try again if it wasn’t for the fact that I need to lose twenty pounds, and have little time as it is to exercise. I understand about my bones and all, but given half an hour three times a week, I’m just more motivated to burn off the piece of pie I ate the night before than do weight training. So I go for the aerobic stuff. At least on the Stairmaster, I can read briefs etc. and burn calories.”

 

Many people confuse the suggestion to do weight bearing exercises with working out with weights. Weight bearing is not the same as weight training. The Stairmaster is weight bearing exercise. Your own weight is what you are bearing. There are certainly options beyond the weight room for women who want to gain strength, flexibility, and bone mineral density.

 

Dr Steven R. Goldstein MD is a Menopause Specialist NYC and a tenured Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at New York University School of Medicine. He is a past President of the International Menopause Society, a Certified Menopause Practitioner and a Past President of the North American Society.