This is a literature review that explored numerous clinical studies and investigations into how joints and muscles change for women during and after menopause. Pulling from a wide range of research, it gives us a useful bird's eye view of a question a lot of women are asking: why does moving around start to feel so different in midlife?

The research points to several converging factors — aging, changes in muscle mass, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, shifts in body composition, and hormones. Hormone research in this area has often focused on testosterone and DHEA for their roles in muscle repair and how the body maintains itself over time.

What's particularly interesting is the emerging picture around estrogen. The authors of this review found a meaningful connection between estrogen levels and how joints and muscles feel — though they note this hasn't been researched thoroughly enough yet to draw firm conclusions. For now, it reads as a significant area worth watching. The research community agrees that women deserve more investigation here.

Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2053369118757537