My question today is does having a hysterectomy while leaving the ovaries intact cause earlier bone mass loss before menopause?
Not that I know of just due to hysterectomy. Bone loss does take place naturally before menopause, however. After about age 35-40, bone loss takes place at about 0.5% a year. When menopause takes place, bone loss is about 1.0-1.5% a year if estrogens are not replaced. For the 1st 20 years after menopause (without ERT), there is a 50% loss of trabecular bone (the spongy, inside bone) and about 30% reduction in cortical (outside, smooth bone). The process is less in blacks but I’m not sure of the exact numbers.
