The Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause Explained

What if weak bones and muscle loss aren't just "normal aging" but the result of decades of misinformation? In this episode double board-certified orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vonda Wright joins Dr. Mary Claire Haver to shatter the myth that frailty, fractures, and decline are inevitable for women in midlife.

Dr. Wright explains why women can lose up to 20% of their bone mass in just five years after menopause—and more importantly, what we can do to prevent it. She reveals how stress, inadequate nutrition, and neglecting strength training and hormonal health create the very outcomes we've been taught to accept as unavoidable.

From the "musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause" that affects 70-80% of women (yet most doctors never discuss) to the science of building bones through strategic lifting, Dr. Wright provides the blueprint for aging with power instead of resignation.

This episode also covers:

• Why your bones are master communicators affecting your brain, metabolism, and more
• The real story behind frozen shoulder and why it happens to women in perimenopause
• How to lift weights for longevity
• Why many women are diagnosed with osteoporosis only after they break something, when it's already too late
• How estrogen loss drives chronic inflammation
• Why nutrition, specifically foods that are rich in calcium, are better than calcium supplements to help strengthen bones

Dr. Wright also shares her personal journey through perimenopause as an athlete and surgeon, and why she wrote her latest New York Times bestselling book Unbreakable.

Guest links:

• Dr. Vonda Wright

• Dr. Vonda Wright (Instagram)

Articles

• Longitudinal changes in bone mineral density during perimenopausal transition: the Vietnam Osteoporosis Study (Osteoporosis International)

• Osteoporosis Due to Hormone Imbalance: An Overview of the Effects of Estrogen Deficiency and Glucocorticoid Overuse on Bone Turnover (International Journal of Molecular Sciences)

• The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause (Climacteric)

• Bone remodeling: an operational process ensuring survival and bone mechanical competence (Bone Research)

• Biological basis of bone strength: anatomy, physiology and measurement (J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact)

• Stem Cells for the Regeneration of Tendon and Ligament: A Perspective (International Journal of Stem Cells)

• Peak bone mineral density in Vietnamese women (Archives of Osteoporosis)

• Sarcopenia: revised European consensus on definition and diagnosis (Age and Ageing)

• Sarcopenia (The Lancet)

• The Conceptual Definition of Sarcopenia: Delphi Consensus from the Global Leadership Initiative in Sarcopenia (GLIS) (Age and Ageing)

• Sarcopenia definition, diagnosis and treatment: consensus is growing (Age and Ageing)

• Poster 188: Is Hormone Replacing Therapy Associated with Reduced Risk of Adhesive Capsulitis in Menopausal Women? A Single Center Analysis (Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine)

• A Narrative Review of Adhesive Capsulitis with Diabetes (Journal of Clinical Medicine)

• Women, men, and osteoarthritis (Arthritis Care and Research)

• Gender differences in health: results from SHARE, ELSA and HRS (European Journal of Public Health)

• The 2022 hormone therapy position statement of The North American Menopause Society (Menopause)

• The peri-menopause in a woman’s life: a systemic inflammatory phase that enables later neurodegenerative disease (Journal of Neuroinflammation)

• Vitamin D-Mediated Regulation of Intestinal Calcium Absorption (Nutrients)

• Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in women (Post Reproductive Health)

Impacts of protein quantity and distribution on body composition (Frontiers in Nutrition)

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