Role of Menopausal Transition and Physical Activity in Loss of Lean and Muscle Mass: A Follow-Up Study in Middle-Aged Finnish Women.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective longitudinal cohort study tracking participants across menopausal transition
PubMed 32456169 · doi:10.3390/jcm9051588
What was done
Researchers tracked 234 Finnish women aged 47–55 years from perimenopause to early postmenopause in the Estrogenic Regulation of Muscle Apoptosis (ERMA) study. Baseline and postmenopausal assessments included serum hormone levels (estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone), total and regional body composition via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and computed tomography (CT), muscle fiber characteristics from biopsies, and physical activity measured by self-report and accelerometers.
What was found
The abstract reports statistically significant decreases across the transition in lean body mass (LBM), lean body mass index (LBMI), appendicular lean mass (ALM), appendicular lean mass index (ALMI), leg lean mass, and thigh muscle cross-sectional area (CSA). Menopausal status was a significant predictor for all evaluated muscle mass variables. Physical activity was an independent positive contributor to LBM, ALM, ALMI, leg lean mass, and relative muscle CSA. Specific numerical values, effect sizes, and p-values were not provided in the abstract.
Why it matters
This study longitudinally demonstrates that the decline in lean and skeletal muscle mass occurs across whole-body, regional, and cross-sectional levels during the menopausal transition, while confirming that physical activity helps preserve muscle mass.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical values, confidence intervals, or effect sizes. The sample was restricted to middle-aged Finnish women (47–55 years old), limiting generalizability to other demographic or ethnic populations. Observational designs cannot definitively establish causality between specific hormonal shifts and lean mass loss.
Cited by
- contradicts The menopause transition in and of itself does not accelerate the loss of lean muscle mass.