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Early Menopause Tied to Osteoporosis in 29-Year Study

Posted 25 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 25 – Women who go through menopause early are almost twice as likely to have the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis later in life, new research indicates. In addition, researchers from the Skane University Hospital in Malmo, Sweden, noted that these women are also at greater risk for fracture and an increased death rate. For the study, the researchers recruited 390 white women from northern Europe in 1977. The women, who were 48 years old at that time, were divided into two groups: those who went through menopause before the age of 47; and those who started menopause at age 47 or later. The women were followed for roughly three decades. All of the women had their bone mineral density measured. After 29 years, only 198 women remained in the study due to deaths, relocation or lack of participation. By this point, the women were 77 years old. The researchers re-measured ... Read more

Study Suggests Mental 'Fog' of Menopause Is Real

Posted 20 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 20 – The memory blips and distractible moments that women say they experience during menopause may be as real as the hot flashes and poor sleep, a new study suggests. Researchers gave women who said they were experiencing "menopause fog" a series of cognitive tests to see how well their abilities matched their complaints. Sure enough, the women who felt they had more memory problems were also the ones who did not keep track of information or maintain their focus as well. "The main point of this study is that women are really good monitors. If a woman says, 'I'm having memory problems,' she probably is," said study co-author Pauline Maki, director of Women's Mental Health Research in the department of psychiatry at University of Illinois at Chicago. On the other hand, people with age-related mental decline do not usually identify the problem, suggesting the memory issues ... Read more

Menopause May Cost Women Sick Days

Posted 16 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, March 16 – Women who suffer the unpleasant and sometimes debilitating symptoms of menopause are more likely to miss days at work, a new Dutch study finds. "If you have really bad menopausal symptoms, which could be insomnia, mood swings, irritability, you may be calling into work sick," says Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician-gynecologist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Menopause, which typically occurs after age 45, marks the end of a woman's periods, when the ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Although previous studies have looked at work productivity, this is the first to correlate menopausal symptoms with a broader concept known as "work ability." Work ability tries to take into account how well a person's abilities correlate with job demands while also attempting to predict future job performance, including how often a person will miss ... Read more

Related support groups: Effexor, Effexor XR, Venlafaxine, Postmenopausal Symptoms

Estrogen-Only Therapy May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Posted 7 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 6 – Some women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy to stave off hot flashes, night sweats and other symptoms of menopause may be at lower risk for developing breast cancer down the road, a news study says. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) fell from grace rather dramatically after a large government-run trial, the U.S. Women's Health Initiative, was stopped early in 2002 because HRT was shown to increase the risk of strokes and breast and ovarian cancer. Since that time, however, some subtleties have emerged as researchers parsed the evidence further. For example, short-term use of HRT is now deemed fairly safe for some women who have severe menopausal symptoms. The new study shows that longer-term use of estrogen-only therapy may actually lower a woman's odds of developing breast cancer. Estrogen-only therapy is reserved for women who have had a ... Read more

Related support groups: Hot Flashes, Postmenopausal Symptoms

Factors Linked to Age of Onset of Menopause Identified

Posted 26 Jan 2012 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

Hormone Might Ease Menopause, Boost Women's Sex Life: Study

Posted 20 Dec 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Dec. 20 – A hormone called DHEA appears to help ease women's menopausal symptoms and also improve their sex life, a small, new study says. This is the first evidence that low doses of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, can help sexual function as well as menopausal symptoms, according to the researchers at the University of Pisa in Italy. The study included 48 postmenopausal women who'd experienced troubling symptoms for a year. They were divided into four groups: 12 took vitamin D and calcium to prevent osteoporosis; 12 took a low dose of DHEA; 12 were given standard hormone replacement therapy (HRT) of estrogen plus progesterone; and 12 took tibolone, a synthetic steroid. The women's menopausal symptoms and levels of sexual interest and activity were monitored for a year. At the end of that time, all the women receiving the hormone ... Read more

Tender Breasts From Combo HRT Linked to Higher Cancer Risk

Posted 18 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Nov. 18 – Women who develop breast tenderness after starting combination estrogen and progestin menopause therapy have a 33 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer than those who don't experience breast tenderness, a new study says. It also found that new-onset breast tenderness was not associated with increased breast cancer risk among women taking estrogen alone. The findings, based on an analysis of data from more than 16,600 women on the combination therapy and nearly 10,750 taking estrogen alone, appear in the Nov. 17 online edition of the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. "This study showed that developing new breast tenderness after the start of hormone therapy was associated with increased breast cancer risk only in women on the combination estrogen plus progestin therapy, not estrogen therapy alone," study first author Dr. Carolyn Crandall, a ... Read more

Related support groups: Postmenopausal Symptoms

Hormonal Treatment of Hot Flashes Still OK for Some: Experts

Posted 18 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Oct. 18 – Women do have options when it comes to treating hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause, and these still include the short-term use of hormone replacement therapy using estrogen alone, experts conclude in a new consensus report. "Hormone replacement therapy should be considered a very reasonable option for recently menopausal women who have moderate-to-severe hot flashes or night sweats," said Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, chief of the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and the current president of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was widely used up until 2002. That year, however, the estrogen-plus-progestin arm of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial was stopped early after women who took the formulation were found to have an increased risk for heart disease, strokes, breast cancer ... 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

Aging, Not Menopause, Raises Women's Heart Risks, Study Finds

Posted 6 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Sept. 6 – There's no link between menopause and increased risk of death from heart disease, says a study that challenges a long-held medical belief that the rate of cardiovascular death in women spikes after menopause. Aging alone, not the hormonal impact of menopause, explains the increasing number of deaths among older women, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers. The new findings could affect how heart health is assessed in premenopausal women, who were previously believed to have a low risk of death from heart attack, the authors pointed out in the study published in the Sept. 6 issue of the BMJ. "Our data show there is no big shift toward higher fatal heart attack rates after menopause," study leader Dhananjay Vaidya, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release. "What we believe is going on is ... Read more

Being Heavier May Mean Fewer Hot Flashes for Women Over 60

Posted 31 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 31 – Older, heavier women tend to have fewer hot flashes than younger, leaner menopausal women, a small, new study suggests. The study included 52 women who experienced hot flashes and were not taking medication for those symptoms. The women's body fat percentage, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) were also measured, and a special skin monitor and electronic diary were used to track their hot flashes. The result: the researchers found that higher fat levels, BMI and waist circumference were associated with fewer hot flashes. These associations were strongest among white women. However, the reduction in hot flashes associated with higher fat levels wasn't evident in women younger than 60. One expert who was not involved in the study said the finding did make physiologic sense. "Being heavier means more body fat that can convert androgens into estrogens," ... Read more

Related support groups: Hot Flashes, Postmenopausal Symptoms

Soy Supplements Don't Ease Bone Loss, Menopausal Symptoms: Study

Posted 8 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Aug. 8 – Soy supplements, sometimes promoted as a healthier alternative to estrogen for maintaining bone and relieving menopausal symptoms, don't appear to do so, according to a new study. "Our study shows that contrary to popular belief, soy isoflavone supplements do not prevent bone loss or alleviate menopausal symptoms," said lead author Dr. Silvina Levis, professor of medicine and director of the Osteoporosis Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. In fact, a greater percent of women taking the supplements had hot flashes after the study than those taking the placebo. The study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is published Aug.8 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers reported no conflicts of interest. Levis and her colleagues evaluated 248 women between the ages of 45 to 60, all of whom were menopausal. At the study ... Read more

Related support groups: Postmenopausal Symptoms

Experts Say Hormone Replacement Generally Safe in Short-Term

Posted 9 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, June 9 – Treatment with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), if tailored to an individual woman's needs, appears to be safe during menopause, according to a report scheduled for release Friday at the World Congress on Menopause in Rome, Italy. "The evidence is quite compelling that young, healthy women do quite well and benefit in several ways," said Dr. Roger Lobo, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University in New York City, a member of the working group that updated the HRT guidelines for the International Menopause Society. "I think the main finding is, the major indication for HRT is symptoms," Lobo said. "Young" refers to women 50 to 59 at the start of menopause, he said. The recommendations may help to settle the controversy that arose in 2002 on the heels of an alarming report from the large-scale Women's Health Initiative (WHI). That study, which ... Read more

Related support groups: Postmenopausal Symptoms

Risks of Estrogen Hormone Therapy Seen to Fade After Treatment Ends

Posted 6 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, April 5 – In the latest analysis from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, researchers report that risks to postmenopausal women who were taking estrogen-only hormone therapy faded rapidly after they ended the treatment. The study found that when women stopped taking estrogen, the risk of stroke and blood clots, which were elevated while they were on estrogen, dropped quickly in several years of follow-up after treatment. Possibly the most perplexing finding from this latest analysis is that a reduced risk of breast cancer persisted in women who had been on estrogen-only therapy. "I think the findings are very reassuring. It doesn't appear that women have to be concerned about an increased risk of breast cancer from short-term use of estrogen therapy, and they might have a decreased risk of breast cancer, heart attack, and even dying," said the study's lead author, ... Read more

Related support groups: Postmenopausal Symptoms

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

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