Updates

Can any new information be added to the question of insulin resistance after menopause? Yes, as it is not clear whether there is any benefit from moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise in postmenopausal women that are unsuccessful in losing weight. Do older women benefit from exercise? The study of Mason and colleagues [1] investigated the independent and… Read More

Memory complaints are relatively common during midlife. Depending on how the question is asked, more than half of midlife women will endorse problems with memory, and many will indicate that poor memory carries over to their daily function [1-4]. A major concern of patients and their physicians is that forgetfulness, poor concentration, or simply just… Read More

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disorder that has been widely viewed as a disease of the premenopausal years. Estrogen dependence is considered central to the development and progression of this disease which normally regresses during the menopause, yet has been thought to affect 2–4% of postmenopausal women. In a review of postmenopausal endometriosis, Bendon and… Read More

A recent 21-year follow-up prospective study was designed to analyze the association between smoking and the onset of menopause at an earlier age in a large cohort of middle-aged women after adjustment for a number of potential confounders [1]. The main outcomes were age of menopause measured at the 21-year follow-up, smoking and menopausal status.… Read More

To study long-term prescriptions of hormone therapy (HT) in postmenopausal women, during a decade after the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), Steinkellner and colleagues [1] used a national pharmacy database from 2000 to 2009. Women who were 50 years and older at the start of the calendar year with continuous pharmacy benefits during the entire 12-month… Read More

In a recent study by Gibson and colleagues, depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed in 1970 women followed up annually since premenopause for up to 10 years in a sub-study of the SWAN (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation) cohort, with the objective of examining whether mood symptoms were influenced negatively by hysterectomy, with… Read More

An important and to date not clearly resolved question in clinical reproductive medicine has been whether premature loss of ovarian function (e.g. primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) below the age of 40 years) and iatrogenic premature loss of ovarian function (as a result of surgery, gonadotoxic chemotherapy or pelvic irradiation) result in a significant decrease in… Read More

The randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study by Hitchcock and Prior [1] demonstrates that oral micronized progesterone is more effective than placebo for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms (VMS) in early postmenopausal women. The study included 133 healthy community women with VMS, aged 44–62 years, 1–10 years since final menstruation. Women recorded daily frequency and severity (1–4)… Read More

Chemoprevention of breast cancer has the potential of a bright future in menopausal medicine. However, before chemoprevention can be implemented effectively, better methods for the reliable prediction of breast cancer are needed. Three major strategies for early prediction or risk assessment of breast cancer have been established. Next to the algorithm of epidemiological factors, as… Read More

The prevalence of simple ovarian cysts in postmenopausal women may range from 3% to 15%. Simple cysts are usually followed conservatively, but concern about progression to malignancy may lead to surgical exploration, which in most cases would likely be for benign conditions. A recent retrospective study from the USA [1] evaluated 619 patients with 743… Read More