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 Researchers compared the reproductive histories of 239
postmenopausal women with osteoporosis to 298 similar women without
thinning bones. Pregnancies no more than 12 months apart were linked
to a four-fold higher risk of osteoporosis, the study found.
“We already know from previous studies that postmenopausal
osteoporosis is directly influenced by the pregnancy itself as well
as other variables in obstetric history such as breastfeeding and
age at first pregnancy,” said lead study author Dr. Gulcin Sahin
Esroy, a researcher at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven,
Connecticut.
“As the results of our study suggest, we believe women should wait
two years between pregnancies,” Esroy said by email.
Women go through menopause when they stop menstruating, which
typically happens between ages 45 and 55. As the ovaries curb
production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone in the years
leading up to menopause, and afterwards, the body slows production
of new bone tissue and women can face an increased risk of
osteoporosis.
For the current study researchers analyzed bone tissue of
postmenopausal women and found in addition to brief intervals
between pregnancies, a first pregnancy before age 27 may also
increase the risk of osteoporosis.
The researchers didn’t find a difference in osteoporosis risk
between women who waited two to three years between pregnancies and
women who had a gap of more than five years.
It’s possible that the study results were skewed by women’s
inaccurate recollections of the timing between pregnancies, and the
researchers didn’t look at other factors that can influence
osteoporosis risk such as diet, exercise and use of birth control
pills, the authors acknowledge in the journal Maturitas.
During pregnancy, there is a shift in skeletal calcium from mother
to growing baby, and women typically regain calcium between
pregnancies once breastfeeding is completed, said Dr. James Liu, a
researcher at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio and board
member of the North American Menopause Society.
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One year between pregnancies may not give women enough time to
regain bone density lost during pregnancy, leaving them at a
disadvantage years later when they go through menopause, Liu, who
wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
“Pregnancy and nursing probably interrupts a woman’s ability to
increase her bone mass or can cause it to decrease,” said Dr.
Nanette Santoro, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the
University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver.
Women who have babies in close succession can still improve their
bone health by getting adequate supplies of calcium and vitamin D,
as well as by doing weight-bearing exercise, Santoro, who wasn’t
involved in the study, said by email.
But there are also many health reasons to wait longer between babies
that are unrelated to bone health, she added.
“It’s a really good idea to wait longer than a year between
pregnancies,” said Santoro, a former board member of the American
Society for Reproductive Medicine. “There are fewer pregnancy
complications in women who wait – it’s recommended to wait at least
two years.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1KUEcwH Maturitas, online July 19, 2015.
(The story has been refiled to adds missing word "who" to first
paragraph.)
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