A 60 year old woman is seen at an emergency room after she fractures the neck of her right femur during a minor fall. Radiologic studies demonstrate a generalized loss of bone mass. Exogenous therapy with which of the following hormones would have been most likely to slow or prevent the patient's bone disease?
The disease is osteoporosis, and estrogen replacement in postmenopausal women appears to play an impoant role in preventing or limiting development of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Coisol excess, as in endogenous or exogenous Cushing's syndrome, is a contributing cause of osteoporosis. Epinephrine levels appear to be unrelated to osteoporosis. Thyroxine excess (e.g., in thyrotoxicosis) may contribute to bone loss in some cases of osteoporosis. Ref: Hoffman B.L., Schorge J.O., Schaffer J.I., Halvorson L.M., Bradshaw K.D., Cunningham F.G., Calver L.E. (2012). Chapter 16. Amenorrhea. In B.L. Hoffman, J.O. Schorge, J.I. Schaffer, L.M. Halvorson, K.D. Bradshaw, F.G. Cunningham, L.E. Calver (Eds), Williams Gynecology, 2e.
Coisol
Epinephrine
Estrogen
Thyroxine