What does the hormone-and-strength study tell us?
If you feel less strong than you used to, you may wonder whether menopause is part of the explanation. Researchers are studying that question, but a finding about a group of women cannot explain an individual woman’s change on its own.
Rachel Logue Cook, Adina Turcu, Carrie Karvonen-Gutierrez and Sandra Hunter examined hormone levels and grip strength in 4,330 adults using data from the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Among women aged 65 and older, those with a history of menopause hormone therapy had stronger grip on average. The researchers did not find a corresponding difference by hormone-therapy history among women aged 40–64.
This was an observational study, not a treatment trial. It cannot establish that hormone therapy caused the difference, tell us which preparation would help, or show that starting treatment will preserve strength. It also did not test whether hormone therapy prevents heart attacks.
The findings give researchers a reason to investigate how hormones relate to muscle strength with aging. For a reader, they are a reason to ask informed questions, rather than a basis for choosing hormone treatment.
Sources: 1
The measurement and your everyday experience both matter.
You may still get everything done while quietly changing how you do it. You carry less at once or ask for help with a container you used to open yourself. Those changes are worth describing.
In research involving more than 2,000 older adults, Rachel Logue Cook and colleagues found that weaker grip was associated with reported hand difficulties, but grip strength alone gave an incomplete picture of hand function. A measurement can be useful without capturing every problem a person experiences.
At your next visit, explain which task has become harder, when you first noticed the change and how you have adapted. That gives your clinician something more specific to work with than “I don’t feel as strong.”
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Written by
Lisa Zahakos, RPA-C
A physician assistant whose clinical practice from 2003–2018 spanned interventional cardiology, executive and integrative medicine, psychiatry and addiction medicine.
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Review of the two study passages
Rachel Logue Cook, PhD
Thank you to Rachel Logue Cook, PhD, University of Michigan, for reviewing the passages discussing her research on hand function and menopause hormone therapy.
This acknowledgment covers the two study passages reproduced above. It does not extend to the full book, website or tools, or imply institutional endorsement.
Review credits checked against the original correspondence on . The medical source-check dates remain as listed.
- Sex hormones and menopause hormone therapy predict muscle strength across the lifespanRachel N. Logue Cook, Adina F. Turcu, Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez and Sandra K. Hunter · Journal of Applied Physiology · 2026; 141:731–744
- Is maximum grip strength a reliable predictor of hand limitations among older adults?Rachel N. Logue Cook and colleagues · Aging Clinical and Experimental Research · 2022; 34:2505–2514
The contributions above apply only to the material and dates described. An editorial source check is separate from an independent clinical review. Sources and contributions do not imply endorsement of HEART RESERVE.