Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause

Why I love this paper:

It does something deceptively simple but profoundly important: it names and legitimises a constellation of musculoskeletal symptoms that affect the majority of women through the menopause transition and are too often seen in isolation or dismissed as “just ageing” or “wear and tear.” By introducing the term Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause, the paper reframes joint pain, muscle loss, bone loss, and osteoarthritis progression as biologically linked processes driven largely by estrogen flux, rather than unrelated problems. It highlights the sheer scale of the issue, with over 70% of women affected and a quarter significantly disabled and makes clear that failing to recognise estrogen’s role prevents clinicians from anticipating symptoms, having informed conversations, or offering early, preventative treatment. For me, the power of this paper lies in its systems view: it connects physiology, lived experience, quality of life, and health-system cost, and gives clinicians a shared language to move from reactive management to proactive, preventative care.