Menopause

Women with early, surgically-induced menopause had greater incidence of neurological problems, including declining cognitive function and early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease in a study reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting.

Hormones, particularly transdermal estradiol, may help women maintain mood, cognition and memory in middle-age and beyond. “What we have learned the past decade is that not all estrogens are the same,” said ACOG presenter Sarah Berga, MD, of Women’s Health at Wake Forrest School of Medicine, “and that the differences can be critical.”

A study appearing in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) April 2013 issue details a model to help predict when a women will experience her final menstrual period (FMP).

Oral estrogen therapy for menopausal women is associated with an increased risk of gallbladder surgery, according to the results of a large-scale study conducted in France.

Advisers to the FDA on Monday voted decisively against approving two non-hormonal medications to treat hot flashes, a common symptom of menopause.

In clinical trials, 12 weeks of desvenlafaxine effectively treated moderate to severe hot flashes in postmenopausal women, and the benefit remained after 1 year of maintenance treatment.

Osphena (ospemifene) has been approved by the FDA to treat dyspareunia. This is the first non-steroidal estrogen available for women with dyspareunia (painful intercourse), a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) that is common during menopause.

A registry-based study by researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) has shown an association between BRCA1/2 mutations and early menopause. The findings, published in Cancer, suggest that women who carry the genetic defect may be at risk of earlier infertility.

New drugs, new research, new guidelines… there’s a lot for ob/gyns to look forward to in the coming year. Here, the leaders of seven ob/gyn societies share the most interesting, important, exciting things on their radar for 2013.

From ASRM’s removal of the ‘experimental’ label from the procedure of oocyte cryopreservation, to discoveries into the complex genetic processes involved in ovarian cancer, 2012 was another important year in ob/gyn research. Here, the leaders of seven major ob/gyn societies reflect on the most exciting research of the last year.

Certain herbal and complementary medicines may be a valuable treatment option for women with postmenopausal symptoms, according to a new review outlining the advantages and limitations of the available treatments of postmenopausal symptoms.

The available evidence shows that the use of local estrogen treatment may improve the symptoms of urinary incontinence in postmenopausal women but that systemic estrogen worsens incontinence.

Applied relaxation techniques can effectively manage vasomotor symptoms of menopause, primarily hot flashes, in healthy women, according to the results of a new study conducted in Sweden.

In a new study, women who initiated hormone replacement therapy soon after beginning menopause and who continued treatment for 10 years had significantly reduced risk of myocardial infarction, heart failure, or death with no increased risk of cancer, venous thromboembolism, or stroke.

The claims that compounded bioidentical hormones are superior to conventional menopausal hormone therapy are unsupported by evidence, according to a new committee review of compounded bioidentical menopausal hormone therapy.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued draft recommendations for postmenopausal hormone therapy for the primary prevention of chronic conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, dementia, hip fracture, and breast cancer.

In a re-analysis of the WHI study 2002, the risks of HRT where misrepresented by the media and not corrected by those affiliated with the research.

In a highly critical re-analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study of 2002, the results of which prompted safety fears about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) significantly increasing the risk of breast cancer, it was concluded that the weight of evidence supports benefits over risks for use of HRT in women with severe symptoms of menopause or other conditions.

Women who experience early menopause are almost twice as likely to have osteoporosis and are at greater risk for fracture and death than women who experience menopause later in life, according to results of a 34-year study conducted in Sweden.

The North American Menopause Society has recently endorsed a flexible approach to the use of HRT that takes into account the individual patient’s needs, the type and timing of the therapy.

Group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective tool in reducing menopause-related symptoms in women with a history of breast cancer, according to new research published in The Lancet Oncology.

Statin use in postmenopausal women is associated with an increased risk of new-onset diabetes mellitus, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Since the debate about the safety of hormone replacement therapy began, researchers, patients, and clinicians have searched for a safe alternative to help alleviate the symptoms associated with menopause. Now, a small study in Italy suggests that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) may be a solution.

According to some sources, there are as many as 600,000 hysterectomies performed annually in the US, making it the most common nonobstetrical surgical procedure among women in the US. While the procedure itself is relatively safe, we need to ask what are the long-term effects of a hysterectomy?

Lead researcher Dr Janet McLaren discusses the results of a new study exploring new concerns that rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and inflammatory bowel disease may lead to premature ovarian failure and early menopause.