Menopause Symptoms Relief

Women and young girls who experience delays in diagnosing a premature, menopause-like condition face increased risk of low bone density, according to new research by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. A delay in diagnosing the condition, called primary ovarian insufficiency, may make women more susceptible to osteoporosis and fractures later in life, the researchers concluded.

The largest study of its kind to date shows that women may not be able to learn as well shortly before menopause, compared with other stages in their lives. The research was published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Over four years, the researchers studied 2,362 women who were between the ages of 42 and 52 and had had at least one menstrual period in the three months before the study started.

The Know My Bones Council today announced results from a national Harris Interactive survey, which found that one-out-of-five women with postmenopausal osteoporosis (PMO) are retiring later than anticipated and nearly half (48 percent) blame the current economy. Despite the need to work longer, half of the women with PMO are fearful that the disease will limit their ability to work.

UCLA researchers and colleagues analyzed data for 2,213 women between the ages of 42 and 52 who participated in the bone sub-study of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation to determine whether women with vasomotor symptoms (VMS) — which include hot flashes and night sweats — had lower bone mineral density.

The researchers found that postmenopausal women with VMS had lower lumbar and total hip bone mineral density than those without VMS. Premenopausal women and early perimenopausal women who had VMS were found to have lower femoral neck bone mineral density than those without VMS.

A comprehensive plan to help health care professionals diagnose and treat primary ovarian insufficiency—a menopause-like condition affecting girls and young women that may occur years before normal menopause is expected—has been developed by a scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

Lawrence Nelson, M.D., head of NIH's Integrative and Reproductive Medicine Unit, provided recommendations based on the research he has conducted at the NIH. His recommendations are published in the Clinical Practice feature of the February 5 New England Journal of Medicine.

Several studies had previously suggested that regular physical exercise reduces the breast cancer risk of women. However, it had been unknown just how much exercise women should take in which period in life in order to benefit from this protective effect. Moreover, little was known about which particular type of breast cancer is influenced by physical activity.

Women in, or past, menopause who use specially compounded "bioidentical" hormones to treat menopause-related symptoms, such as hot flushes, often don't get adequate information from compounding pharmacists about the drugs' risks and realistic potential for benefit. That's one of the concerns about these medications addressed by menopause expert JoAnn V. Pinkerton, MD, in "'Bioidentical' hormones: What you (and your patient) need to know," in the January issue of OBG Management.

For many women, including the growing number who choose later-in-life pregnancy, predicting their biological clock's relation to the timing of their menopause and infertility is critically important.

Now, investigators from the University of Michigan have provided new information about hormonal biomarkers that can address the beginning of the menopause transition.

Most people know that women go through menopause, but did you know that some men go through a similar process? The phenomenon of andropause is much more unknown. While men experience different symptoms than women, both women and men need to adapt to many changes on different levels.

To better understand these natural phenomenons and relieve fears regarding midlife processes, CIHR experts are available to describe and explain the symptoms and consequences associated with these midlife adaptations.

Experts:

Women troubled by hot flashes and night sweats during the years around menopause want safe, effective treatment options. The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is part of a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to conduct clinical trials of promising treatments for the most common symptoms of the menopausal transition.