[Calcium and bone metabolism across women's life stages. Nutritive therapy for improvement of bone and calcium metabolism according to life stage in women.]

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is mainly caused by decreased estrogen levels, and progression of disease is associated with irreversible changes. It is therefore extremely important to maintain or improve healthy bone and calcium metabolism during and before the climacteric from a preventive medicine viewpoint. The specific preventive measures are appropriate calcium intake and regular physical exercise. In recent years, women in their twenties are considerably thinner and have a lower calcium intake than women in other age groups, which may lead to a further increase in the number of women with osteoporosis in the future. From the aspect of female hormone secretion, women are at higher risk for osteoporosis than men at any given age. Aggressive intervention should therefore be undertaken to prevent osteoporosis according to life stage in women.