Menopause News and Research

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Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her period stops. It usually occurs naturally, most often after age 45. Menopause happens because the woman's ovary stops producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

Calcium from food better than pills

The majority of women today are aware that calcium is essential in preventing osteoporosis, especially after the menopause.

27 Jun 2007

Estrogen injections protect brain cells from age-related deterioration

The study suggests that age is a factor in estrogen treatment and sheds light on the intricate relationship between mind, age, and hormones. The study will be published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of June 25.

26 Jun 2007

Women need to start thinking about heart disease prevention before menopause

Studies in female monkeys helped raise important questions about hormone therapy that were addressed in a Women's Health Initiative study reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine .

26 Jun 2007

Truth on postmenopausal hormone therapy and coronary disease

With each new publication of coronary artery disease (CAD) data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, the inevitable reaction is ,Why on earth did the WHI investigators claim in 2002-2004 that postmenopausal hormone therapy has deleterious effects on the risk for CAD, when, from the beginning, they were aware of the importance of the age factor in this clinical scenario".

23 Jun 2007

Estrogen use lowered one risk factor for heart disease among some younger postmenopausal women

A follow-up study to the federally funded Women's Health Initiative should help allay one concern in a subset of women in their 50s who are considering taking estrogen to relieve hot flashes.

23 Jun 2007

Estrogen HRT can limit plaque accumulation in arteries

Estrogen can limit significantly the accumulation of plaque in the arteries of women in their 50s, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (Newson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/20).

22 Jun 2007

HRT not such a bad idea after all!

Older women struggling to cope with the symptoms of the menopause will be reassured by the latest research into hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

21 Jun 2007

Periodontal diseases are a threat to women of all ages

Two new studies in the June issue of the Journal of Periodontology (JOP) suggest that periodontal diseases are a threat to women of all ages due to hormonal fluctuations that occur at various stages of their lives.

15 Jun 2007

Facts about heart disease for women

Many women don't worry about heart disease, or if they do, they are concerned it's something the men in their lives might develop.

8 Jun 2007

Why do more women than men die from strokes?

It is well known that more women than men die of stroke even though men are more at risk.

7 Jun 2007

Low testosterone means men may die young

A new study suggests that men with low levels of testosterone are more likely to die young; they apparently have a 33% increased risk of death over an 18-year period than those with higher levels.

6 Jun 2007

Gabapentin reduces hot flashes in men receiving androgen deprivation therapy

North Central Cancer Treatment Group ( http://ncctg/ ) researchers based at Mayo Clinic ( http://www.mayo.edu/ ) in Rochester, Minn., have discovered that low doses of a drug used to prevent epileptic seizures and to treat nerve pain caused by shingles substantially reduces hot flashes in patients who are undergoing anti-hormonal treatment, or androgen-deprivation therapy, for prostate cancer.

5 Jun 2007

Vitamin D and calcium lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer

Women who consume higher amounts of calcium and vitamin D may have a lower risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer, according to a report in the May 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

30 May 2007

Depression is a risk factor for osteoporosis

Evidence is accumulating that depression is a risk factor for osteoporosis, reports the June 2007 issue of Harvard Women's Health Watch.

30 May 2007

Hormone therapy and menopause study

When is the best time in a woman's reproductive history to start hormone therapy?

24 May 2007

Effects of estrogen therapy with perimenopausal women

When is the best time in a woman's reproductive history to start hormone therapy? How does estrogen therapy affect a woman's cognition and mood? What is the most beneficial form of estrogen?

24 May 2007

COX inhibitors may weaken protective qualities of estrogen therapy

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found in a database study of women heart patients that COX inhibitors such as traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may undermine any purported protection against heart disease in participants taking estrogen therapy.

24 May 2007

Muscle stem cells treat urinary incontinence

Women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) treated using muscle-derived stem cell injections to strengthen their sphincter muscles experience long-term improvements in their condition, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

22 May 2007

Hormone treatment could cut need for chemo in some younger breast cancer patients

Around 5,500 pre-menopausal breast cancer patients could be offered a hormone drug that is shown to be as effective as traditional chemotherapy - and so avoid potential infertility and long-term menopausal side effects - according to a Cancer Research UK report published in The Lancet.

20 May 2007

Merits and risks of postmenopausal hormone therapy

The study was categorized as a primary prevention trial for coronary heart disease, although the fact that mean age at recruitment was 63 years was not given enough importance at that time. WHI investigators concluded that hormone therapy (HT) was not cardioprotective, and, in fact, its riskbenefit ratio did not favor the use of postmenopausal hormones for prevention of chronic diseases.

17 May 2007