As you approach menopause, your chances for developing this disease increase dramatically. Here's why. Your bones are in a constant state of remodeling its bone tissue, by removing old bone tissue cells through reabsorption and creating new ones. But the body is more adept at tearing down the old than at building the new. Your body depends upon its growth hormones — especially estrogen — to help pace the remodeling process.

Estrogen Loss Depletes Bone Tissue

So what role does estrogen play in this whole remodeling process? Estrogen protects your bones by controlling the amount of bone removed by reabsorption. When your estrogen levels drop after menopause, your bones lose that protection. As a result, in the five to eight years following menopause, your bone loss can increase dramatically as your body adjusts to the loss of ovarian estrogen.

If you've gone through an early menopause, your body has endured a greater-than-normal estrogen loss and your risk of experiencing accelerated bone loss increases. And if you've ever experienced extensive or frequent bouts of amenorrhea (lack of periods), your bones have been through periods of accelerated bone loss due to a loss of estrogen protection.

The Facts about Postmenopausal Bone Loss

Though your bone loss is gradual in the years between achieving peak bone mass and entering menopause, after menopause the loss increases dramatically. The average woman loses up to 3 percent of bone mass a year after menopause. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in just the first five to seven years following menopause.

So does that mean that every woman emerges from the first decade of menopause with thin, fragile bones? Certainly not! Remember that the condition of your bones plays a role in preserving their mass, as do a number of other factors, including heredity, environment, diet, and exercise.

All of these facts lead to only one logical conclusion: Every woman — regardless of her age or health — needs to understand her risks for developing osteoporosis and have a sound, ongoing plan for maintaining her bone health. Waiting until you're older or waiting until you've entered menopause to protect yourself against osteoporosis just won't work; by then, you could already be losing the battle against bone loss.