Stephen Sandler

The Association Between Joint Laxity and Female Hormones: Changes in Joint Laxity Associated with the Menstrual Cycle, with Pregnancy, with the Post-partum Period, and with the Menopause Stephen Sandler

This thesis looks at changes in joint laxity associated with the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and the menopause and the potential contribution of female hormones to that laxity. Four experiments were designed looking at mobility in a peripheral joint. Women with a normal menstrual cycle, pregnant women, breast feeding women, and women after the menopause, were all examined. The results of the menstrual cycle study showed that every subject underwent an increase in laxity as she progressed throughout the cycle, and that change was particularly significant in the first phase of the cycle. The pregnancy study showed that all subjects measured showed an increase in joint laxity as the pregnancy progressed, however this laxity change was neither uniform throughout the pregnancy nor the same from one subject to another. The post natal study looked at changes in laxity that took place in breast versus bottle feeding mothers. The menopause study showed that women who take a hormone replacement retain joint laxity more than a control group.