Update on Estrogens and the Skeleton

The very clinical trial, the Women's Health Initiative, which definitely established the antifracture efficacy of estrogen therapy, led to the demise of estrogen treatment as a viable, long-term option for prevention of bone loss in postmenopausal women due to the well-publicized adverse effects of estrogen plus progestin therapy on a number of nonskeletal endpoints. Given the diminishing clinical use of estrogen, it is logical to question whether estrogen regulation of bone remains a relevant issue at a clinical or basic research level.