Both men and women lose bone as they grow older. But dropping estrogen levels around the time of menopause also leads to bone loss in women. Estrogen helps to build and maintain bone. After menopause, bone loss speeds up for several years as estrogen levels rapidly decrease. Bone loss can cause bones to weaken. Weak bones can break more easily. When bones weaken a lot, the condition is called osteoporosis (OSS-tee-oh-puh-ROH-suhss).
Source: Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.