THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN JOINT LAXITY AND FEMALE HORMONES

This thesis looks at changes in joint laxityassociated with the menstrual cycle pregnancy andthe menopause and the potential contribution offemale hormones to that laxity.Four experiments were designed looking at mobility ina peripheral joint. Women with a normal menstrualcycle pregnant women breast feeding women andwomen after the menopause were all examined.The results of the menstrual cycle study showed thatevery subject underwent an increase in laxity as sheprogressed throughout the cycle and that change wasparticularly significant in the first phase of thecycle. The pregnancy study showed that all subjectsmeasured showed an increase in joint laxity as thepregnancy progressed however this laxity change wasneither uniform throughout the pregnancy nor the samefrom one subject to another. The post natal studylooked at changes in laxity that took place in breastversus bottle feeding mothers.The menopause studyshowed that women who take a hormone replacementretain joint laxity more than a control group.