Add yet another ailment to those triggered by menopause: The back pain you feel as a result of lumbar disk degeneration when you hit middle age may be due in part to your loss of estrogen.

Previous research shows the association of estrogen deficiency in disc degeneration, but this is the first to compare age-matched men to menopausal women.

The study, out of China, and published in the Journal of the The North American Menopause Society (NAMS), consisted of a magnetic resonance imaging study of 1,566 women and 1,382 men in an age-matched comparison of lumbar disc degeneration.

The lumbar region of your back is the lower part. The five vertebrae in this are are the largest and strongest to be found in your spinal column.

“This study shows that menopause is associated with more severe disc degeneration,” says Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, executive director of NAMS. “Prevention of disc degeneration of the lumbar spine may be another potential benefit for symptomatic menopausal women who may be candidates for hormone therapy.”

The study results indicate how men and women fare with regard to disc degeneration, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging, as they age. The researchers learned, that whereas young, age-matched men were more susceptible to disc degeneration than premenopausal women were, post-menopausal women were far more likely to develop more severe disc degeneration than age-matched men compared with premenopausal and perimenopausal women. The most significant difference was seen in the first 15 years after menopause onset, although the scientists noted that further studies are needed to determine whether age or menopause plays a more important role in the progression of disc degeneration in the lumbar spine.