During their reproductive years, women produce significant amounts of estrogen in their body. Estrogen helps to build and maintain bone density. During menopause, a woman’s estrogen level decreases as her ovaries cease to function and this leads to a loss in bone density. In some women, this loss in bone density is significant enough to cause osteoporosis.
Although SERMs are non-hormonal, they act like the hormone estrogen in some parts of the body, such as the bones. In other parts of the body, such as the uterus and breast, they block the effects of estrogen.