[A main symptom of the climacteric manifestation complex: arthropathia climacteria].

In the last few years several studies have been published raising the question whether hormonal factors are co-responsible for the female prevalence of certain joint diseases. From our own clinical experience we know that more than half of the women seen at our outpatients department because of disorders of the post menopausal syndrome complain about arthralgies (especially of the PIP-joints). We have introduced the term "arthropathia climacterica" for it. Moreover the positive results of two clinical studies on which effects hormone replacement therapy had on these complaints indicate a relation between estrogens and joints.