Washington: A hormonal condition characteristic of post-menopausal women is hitting large numbers of much younger females.
The condition, known as Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna (HFI), seems to be attacking females earlier and more frequently than their sisters a century ago.
Women today are 2.5 times more likely to develop HFI than they were 100 years ago, the study by Tel Aviv University found.
HFI occurs when a hormonal imbalance leads to the growth of lesions, or bone masses, in the inner skull, the American Journal of Human Biology reports.
This may lead to chronic headaches, weight gain and thyroid irregularities and is suspected to be rooted in lifestyle, fertility habits, nutrition, and environment.
That balance is being altered by hormones we now consume in our food and by our changing fertility patterns, such as having children later in life, according to a Tel Aviv statement.
Women`s hormonal balances are changing and taking a physical toll, says Israel Hershkovitz, who conducted the study with graduate student Hila May.
Hershkovitz and his team compared 992 historic female skulls from museum collections aged 20 to 90 years with CT scans of 568 living female participants aged between 20 and 103 years.
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