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Menopausal Disorders Blog

Includes: Change of Life, Menopause

Blog (13)

Factors Linked to Age of Onset of Menopause Identified

Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Jan. 26 – New genetic factors associated with a woman's age when she begins menopause have been identified by an international team of researchers. Researchers identified 13 loci (specific location of a gene on a chromosome) linked with immune function and DNA repair, which have an effect on when menopause begins, said the researchers from the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine and colleagues. They also confirmed four previously established loci. For most women, menopause – the term for the end of reproductive function of the ovaries – occurs in the early 50s. The study was published online Jan. 22 in the journal Nature Genetics. Most previous studies examining age of onset of menopause have zeroed in on genes associated with the estrogen-production pathway or vascular components, the researchers said. "Our findings demonstrate the role of genes which ... Read more

Caffeine May Alter Women's Estrogen Levels

Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Jan. 26 – Caffeine changes women's estrogen levels and has different effects in Asian and white women, a new study says. More than 250 women, ages 18 to 44, took part in the study between 2005 and 2007. On average, they consumed 90 milligrams of caffeine a day, about the equivalent of one cup of caffeinated coffee. Estrogen is the reproductive hormone produced by the ovaries. Asian women who consumed an average of 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day (equivalent to about two cups of coffee) had elevated estrogen levels compared to women who consumed less. But white women who consumed the same amount of caffeine had slightly lower estrogen levels than women who consumed less. Black women who consumed 200 or more milligrams of caffeine daily had elevated estrogen levels, but this finding was not statistically significant, said the U.S. National Institutes of Health ... Read more

Factors Identified That May Raise Risk of Early Menopause

Posted 18 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Oct. 18 – Certain factors have been found to be associated with a raised risk of early menopause, including having a chronic inflammatory disease or having one of two genes known to be linked to breast cancer, especially among those who smoke, according to two new studies. The studies were slated for presentation Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in Orlando, Fla. In one study, researchers examined data from the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Risk Registry on 931 white women in the United States and found that BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers started menopause at a much earlier age than those without the breast cancer genes – age 48 versus 53. Heavy smoking (20 or more cigarettes a day) was associated with an even earlier onset of menopause in BRCA1/2 carriers, an average age of 45.5, the study revealed. In another ... Read more

High Levels of PFCs Might Bring Early Menopause

Posted 26 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 23 – Women with higher levels of certain chemicals used in many household products have lower levels of estrogen and are more likely to experience early menopause, a new study finds. Researchers looked at perfluorocarbons (PFCs), which are endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in products such as toys, clothing, furniture, carpets, paints and plastic food containers. This new study of 25,957 women, aged 18 to 65, found an association between PFC exposure, decreased levels of the female sex hormone estradiol, and early menopause in women over age 42. The findings appear in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The widespread use of PFCs has led to their presence in water, air, soil, plants, animals and humans. One study found that 98 percent of American adults have measurable concentrations of PFCs, according to background material in the study. "There is ... Read more

Related support groups: Menopausal Disorders

Acupuncture May Take Edge Off Menopause Symptoms

Posted 8 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 8 – Acupuncture may help reduce the severity of hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause, according to a small study. The research included 53 postmenopausal women, with about half receiving traditional Chinese acupuncture twice a week and the others given sham acupuncture treatments. After 10 weeks, the women in the traditional acupuncture group had significantly less severe hot flashes and mood swings than those who'd gotten the fake treatment. There were no differences between the two groups in terms of vaginal dryness and urinary tract infection. The beneficial effects of traditional acupuncture, according to the researchers, did not appear to be associated with changes in levels of hormones that trigger menopause and its associated symptoms. The findings were published online March 7 in Acupuncture in Medicine. Though the researchers acknowledged that they did ... Read more

Early Symptoms in Menopause Might Protect Heart

Posted 25 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Feb. 25 – Women who begin to experience hot flashes and night sweats early in menopause appear to be at lower risk for heart disease, stroke and death, a new study suggests. But the start of those symptoms later in menopause may be associated with an increased cardiovascular risk, according to researchers from Northwestern University and Brigham and Women's Hospital. They examined data from more than 60,000 women who were followed for an average of 10 years and found that women with hot flashes and night sweats at the start of menopause had a 17 percent lower risk of stroke, an 11 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and an 11 percent lower risk of death, compared to women without hot flashes. Women who developed hot flashes and night sweats later in menopause had a 32 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 29 percent higher risk of death. No change in risk was seen ... Read more

Related support groups: Hot Flashes, Menopausal Disorders, Cardiovascular Risk Reduction

Blood Test May One Day Predict Menopause, Researchers Say

Posted 28 Jun 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, June 28 – A simple blood test may one day help predict the age at which a woman will begin menopause, say the scientists who developed the test. Their study found that the average difference between the age predicted by the test and the actual age a woman reached menopause was about four months, while the maximum margin of error was between three and four years. If the accuracy of the test is confirmed in larger studies, women could take the test early on their reproductive life to find out their expected age at menopause, knowledge that would help them plan when to start a family, said researcher Dr. Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani, president of the Reproductive Endocrinology Department of the Endocrine Research Centre and associate professor at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. The test measures concentrations of anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH), a hormone ... Read more

Menopause Often Means Worsening Cholesterol

Posted 12 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Dec. 11 – Blood levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad kind that blocks arteries, go up sharply in women at the time of menopause, but there are no other dramatic changes in risk factors for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, a new study has found. "This suggests that as women approach menopause, they need to have their lipid profiles checked," said Karen A. Matthews, a professor of psychiatry, epidemiology and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and the study's lead author. A report on the findings is published in the Dec. 15/22 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, which is focused on prevention of cardiovascular disease. Two other studies reported in the same issue showed that higher doses of statins, drugs that lower LDL cholesterol levels, are more effective over the long run than lower doses in preventing heart attacks, other ... Read more

Soybean Chemicals May Reduce Effects of Menopause

Posted 9 Apr 2009 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 9 – Chemicals in soybeans reduced the effects of menopause in rats, according to a Taiwanese study. The researchers found that dietary supplementation with soy aglycons of isoflavone (SAI) – a group of chemicals found in soybeans – lowered cholesterol, boosted the anti-oxidative abilities of the liver, and prevented degeneration of the vaginal lining in female rats who'd had their ovaries removed. "These ovariectomized animals are a good model for study of the menopause as the loss of estrogen from the ovaries mimics the natural reduction in estrogen seen in menopausal women," study leader Robin Chiou, of the National Chiayi University in Taiwan, said in a news release. "SAI itself has weak estrogenic properties, and we've shown here that menopause-related syndromes can be prevented or improved by dietary supplementation with the compounds it contains." The ... Read more

Acupuncture May Not Help Hot Flashes

Posted 7 Apr 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, April 7 – Acupuncture appears ineffective in treating menopause-related hot flashes, according to researchers who reviewed six randomized controlled studies that compared the effects of real acupuncture and sham acupuncture. Only one of the studies found that acupuncture helped reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes at four weeks follow-up after treatment. The number of good randomized controlled trials is too small to draw any firm conclusion about whether acupuncture helps treat hot flashes, but the evidence from the studies suggests the treatment is ineffective, said lead researcher Dr. Myeong Soo Lee of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine in South Korea. The review was published in the journal Climacteric. The researchers noted that many women seek help to deal with symptoms that can occur during and after menopause. Because of concerns about hormone ... Read more

Drop in Breast Cancer Rates Due to Drop in HRT Use

Posted 4 Feb 2009 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4 – A new analysis shows that the drop in breast cancer cases that began in 2003 is indeed due to women stopping hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after a large, U.S. study showed surprisingly higher rates of heart problems and breast cancer among users of some kinds of HRT. Some experts have suggested such a theory explains the trend, while others have said it might be related to changes in mammography use. "If you stop hormones, the risk of breast cancer [associated with hormone use] rapidly declines," said Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, a medical oncologist at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and lead author of the analysis in the Feb. 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Based on that analysis and another recent review, the researchers also suggested that the "safe" period for combined use of progestin and estrogen to relieve ... Read more

2 Years of Hormone Use May Be 'Safe'

Posted 3 Feb 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Feb. 3 – A potential two-year "safe period" for hormone replacement therapy has been identified by American Cancer Society epidemiologists, who also confirmed that using estrogen-plus-progesterone therapy increases the risk for both ductal and lobular breast cancer far more than taking estrogen alone. The finding follows a report last month from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada that women have been needlessly scared away from using hormone therapy during menopause. Researchers for the U.S. study followed 68,369 postmenopausal women who were cancer-free when the study began in 1992. They were followed through mid-2005. Along with confirming previous findings of increased breast cancer risk from combination therapy, the research team also found that the cancer risk increases substantially within three years of starting estrogen-plus-progesterone therapy. ... Read more

FDA Medwatch Alert: Compounded Menopause Hormone Therapy Drugs

Posted 10 Jan 2008 by Drugs.com

[Posted 01/10/2008] FDA informed healthcare professionals and patients that the Agency sent letters warning seven pharmacy operations that the claims they make about the safety and effectiveness of their so-called "bio-identical hormone replacement therapy," or "BHRT" products are unsupported by medical evidence, and are considered false and misleading by the agency. The pharmacy operations improperly claim that their drugs, which contain hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and estriol (which is not a component of an FDA-approved drug and has not been proven safe and effective for any use) are superior to FDA-approved menopausal hormone therapy drugs and prevent or treat serious diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and various forms of cancer. FDA is concerned that the claims for safety, effectiveness, and superiority that these pharmacy operations are making mislead ... Read more

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