Treatment with oral estrone sulphate in the female climacteric. III. Effects on bone density and on certain biochemical parameters.

Thirty-eight women were treated with estrone sulphate over a period of 30 months for climacteric problems. A random control group of 29 women were given methyl scopolamine. Bone mineral assays were performed by means of dual photon absorptiometry before the start of treatment and after 6, 12, 18, and 30 months. There was a difference in the mineral loss of trabecular bone between the two groups after 30 months of treatment, that the control group being significantly higher (p less than 0.001). In the estrogen-treated group there was a decrease in serum phosphorus (p less than 0.01), alkaline phosphatase activity (p less than 0.001), and albumin (p less than 0.001). In the control group, serum albumin showed the same decrease, while the other factors either showed no differences or even increased. The urinary excretion of calcium was not significantly reduced in the estrogen group, whereas there was an increase in the control group (p less than 0.01). There was an increase in hematocrit in both groups. Positive correlation was found between parity and loss of trabecular bone mineral (p less than 0.01).U