Updates

Kenemans and colleagues have recently reported the effects of tibolone, as compared to placebo, on risk of recurrence in breast cancer patients with climacteric complaints [1]. During 2002–2004, in the prospective multicenter LIBERATE trial, as many as 3148 women, after surgery for confirmed breast cancer and with vasomotor symptoms, were randomized to receive either tibolone… Read More

Considerable uncertainty exists regarding optimal intakes of calcium. This is reflected in markedly different recommended daily intakes in various countries [1]. A recent paper reports a study which was carried out in the United States among 4958 community-dwelling women and 5003 men aged 20 years or more [2]. According to the results, a higher calcium… Read More

Obesity is an established and modifiable risk factor for urinary incontinence, but conclusive evidence for a beneficial effect of weight loss on urinary incontinence is lacking. In a recently published study by Subak and colleagues [1], 338 overweight and obese women, with a mean age of 53 ± 11 years, and with at least ten… Read More

The Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) was an ancillary study to the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) that investigated the impact of hormone therapy on risk for dementia in women 65 years of age and older [1,2]. Among naturally menopausal women (n = 4532), the hazard ratio for probable dementia among women receiving conjugated equine… Read More

A recently published paper has evaluated colorectal cancer risk associated with the duration and recency of specific menopausal hormone therapy formulations viz. unopposed estrogen versus estrogen combined with continuously or sequentially administered progestin among 56,733 postmenopausal women participating in the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP) follow-up study [1]. There were 960 women who were… Read More

It is known that women who smoke tend to have an earlier menopause than non-smokers and are more likely to experience hot flushes [1]. A recent paper reports a study to test the hypothesis that cigarette smoking is associated with hot flushes through a mechanism involving levels of androgen, progesterone and sex hormone binding globulin… Read More

In a recent paper, Watts and colleagues examined the clinical significance in non-responders of bone mineral density (BMD) measured at the femoral neck after 12-month treatment with teriparatide, a parathyroid hormone analogue, compared to placebo in terms of vertebral fracture risk reduction [1]. A BMD change from baseline of > 4% was considered to be… Read More

At the Breast Cancer Symposium held in San Antonio, Texas, in December, 2008, Chlebowski and colleagues [1] referred to correlated declines in the use of menopausal hormone therapy (HT) and the incidence of breast cancer, as reported in an analysis of the SEER database by Ravdin and colleagues [2], and they presented data from the… Read More

Several abstracts presented at the Annual meeting of the British Menopause Society and published in Menopause International discuss the role of nurses in providing menopausal care. In one study, the authors discuss the various roles that nurses may provide in menopausal care, ranging from those nurses who may serve as chaperones in exam rooms to… Read More

In a recent paper, using a case history of a patient with classical menopausal symptoms, Martin and Manson have reviewed in short the recent data and controversies over hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and discussed hormonal regimens (oral, transdermal) and dosage, duration of therapy and alternative treatment options [1]. The main motif of the article is… Read More