Menopause

When a woman goes through menopause, she is at accelerated risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to the 2020 statement on menopause and CVD risk from the American Heart Association (AHA).

Many women gain weight during menopause. Aging and lifestyle are the main factors, and women generally become less active as they go through midlife. At any age, it is known that burning fewer calories increases weight and fat mass. But what can providers do?

Rebecca Thurston, PhD, explains clinical research and strategies for undermining the power of vasomotor symptoms and insomnia to interrupt sleep.

Check in throughout the week for the latest coverage from the North American Menopause Society’s (NAMS) Annual Meeting, which is being held Sept. 22-25 in Washington, D.C.

This week, Contemporary OB/GYN® will be covering the North American Menopause Society’s (NAMS) 2021 Annual Meeting, which is taking place Sept. 22-25 in Washington, D.C. We spoke with NAMS President Hadine Joffe, MD, MSc about wellness at midlife and why it is crucial in menopause.

Successfully managing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women revolves around risk factors and risk-assessment tools for identifying women who are candidates for pharmacologic therapy, according to an updated position statement from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

A 12-week trial found implementing a dietary approach using a low-fat, vegan diet could help reduce the incidence of moderate-to-severe hot flashes in postmenopausal women.

An evaluation of multiple recommended eating patterns has found that intakes of legumes, dietary fiber, and vegetable protein is linked to lower risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), whereas intakes of unprocessed red meat, processed meat, and regular soft drinks are associated with higher risk.

Besides sex hormone levels, predictors for the age at natural menopause (ANM) include irregularity of menstrual cycle, menopausal symptoms, life habits and socioeconomic factors, according to a retrospective study of 105 middle-aged women who kept bleeding diaries.

Preoperative vitamin D deficiency adversely impacted early functional outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in postmenopausal women, according to a study from China.

Significant updates occurred in women’s health issues while the world was in survival mode.

A study in the journal Menopause has found that the risk of de novo severe carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is significantly greater after bilateral oophorectomy performed in premenopausal women.

Women with a history of preeclampsia were nearly 4 times as likely to have a stroke in later life compared with women without a history of preeclampsia, according to an analysis of data from the Framingham Heart Study, which was conducted from 1948 to 2016.

Genetic factors predictive of reproductive aging also are linked to vasomotor symptoms (VMS), indicative of VMS having a polygenic architecture, according to an analysis of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Genomic Substudy.

Data from successive surveys indicate that the mean age at natural menopause has increased by 1.5 years and the mean reproductive life span by 2.1 years between 1959 and 2018 in the United States.

A team of investigators has found that women with Down Syndrome received gynecologic care at lower-than-recommended rates and at substantially lower rates than other forms of health care. The investigators have called for efforts to improve gynecologic care for this vulnerable population.

A prospective observational study found that hormone therapy resulted in a significant reduction in nocturia prevalence and bother in postmenopausal women with two nocturnal voids.

Fractional microblative CO2 laser therapy was found both effective and safe in treating vulvovaginal atrophy short term, according to a study in the journal Menopause.

“Women show an accelerated loss of muscle mass around menopause, possibly related to the decline in estrogen,” wrote the authors.

The study provides preliminary evidence of improvements in sexual function in breast cancer survivors who receive laser therapy.

Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause is often overlooked by providers.

The challenge of diagnosis occurs in distinguishing “normal” from “abnormal” in a time of rapid and dynamic change.

A prospective study from the People’s Republic of China has concluded that menopausal symptoms in women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) were significantly higher than in women with natural menopause.

Women with HIV are no more vulnerable to menopause-related cognitive declines compared to other women, according to a longitudinal cohort study in the journal Menopause.

A study in the journal Vascular Health and Risk Management has found significant differences in the metabolite profiling of altered amino acid and lipoprotein metabolism in participants with atherosclerosis and osteoporosis, compared with those in healthy menopausal women.

It has yet to be fully elucidated why postmenopausal women have a higher prevalence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV); however, the sudden decrease in estrogen during menopause can cause a rapid decrease in estrogen receptors, which may disturb otoconial metabolism and thus, increase the prevalence of BPPV.

Postmenopausal women with elevated hypertension who participated in the high-intensity team sport of floorball, a form of indoor hockey, achieved a significant decrease in their blood pressure.

The compounded bioidentical hormone industry needs major changes in oversight to keep consumers safe.

A secondary analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)-Calcium and Vitamin D (CaD) clinical trial has concluded that vasomotor symptom severity is not linked to any clinical event.

In this video, Senior Editor Angie DeRosa interviews Nanette Santoro, MD, Chair of the 2020 Scientific Program Committee for the Virtual Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).