Menopause

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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.

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 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.

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?

One of the earliest uses of HRT was documented in an 1897 publication highlighting the use of desiccated ovarian extracts to alleviate vasomotor symptoms. As science evolved, publications emerged describing the extraction of hormones from pregnant female urine (Emmenin®) in 1934 and eventually pregnant mare urine (Premarin®) in 1937 for the therapeutic relief of menopausal symptoms.