Menopause

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According to some estimates, hot flashes affect approximately 32 million women in the United States and may be the most common menopause-related discomfort. Although estrogen can effectively treat this symptom, concerns over estrogen’s safety have caused clinicians and patients alike to seek effective alternatives.

Sexual desire in patients with breast cancer is not affected by adjuvant endocrine therapy, but is significantly reduced in those women with chemotherapy- or gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist-induced menopause, according to a study published online March 2 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

After reaching menopause, women experience body composition changes such as loss of lean body mass, increase in body fat mass, and a shift to central or android fat distribution-all of which are associated with negative health issues. Researchers have hypothesized that hormone therapy might help counter these changes, but thus far studies have been limited by size, type (ie, observational), or length of intervention.

High body mass index (BMI) and low levels of physical activity are associated with increased risk of triple-negative and estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers in postmenopausal women, according to a study published online March 1 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Breast cancer incidence rates among non-Hispanic (NH) white women in the United States stabilized between 2003 and 2007 after a sharp decline between 2002 and 2003 that followed a drop in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy, according to a study published online Feb. 28 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Nitroglycerin ointment appears to increase bone mineral density (BMD) and decrease bone resorption in postmenopausal women when administered daily, according to research published in the Feb. 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Menopausal women treated with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram have fewer, and less severe, hot flashes than women taking a placebo, according to a study published in the Jan. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.