Updates

It is the experience of those gynecologists dealing with severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) that long-standing ‘bipolar depression’ which has been diagnosed by psychiatrists often disappears when the cyclical premenstrual nature of the condition is treated by hormonal suppression of ovarian cycles. This treatment could be by transdermal estradiol, GnRH analogues… Read More

Leitch and colleagues [1] have recently reported the results of a survey performed in a group of women attending a specialist menopause clinic in Edinburgh. The aims of the study were to establish the current prevalence of skin disorders in a group of peri- and postmenopausal women and to investigate any perceived effects of hormone… Read More

In a recent elegant study, 62 postmenopausal women with normal glucose tolerance (normal) were compared with 33 postmenopausal women with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 18 women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) [1]. Women were further divided according to the status of the visceral abdominal fat. The contribution of glucose tolerance status and intra-abdominal fat… Read More

In the January issue of the [i]Journal of the National Cancer Institute[/i], Valerie Beral and co-workers report an update on the association between use of hormone therapy (HT) and breast cancer risk in the Million Women Study cohort [1]. After extended follow-up, more postmenopausal women (1,129,025 vs. 828,923) and more incident breast cancers (15,759 vs.… Read More

In a new and quite unique study, Ali and Wojnarowska [1] aim to assess the subjective experience of changes in scalp, facial and body hair in a large cohort of healthy postmenopausal females of northern European ethnicity. It is the first epidemiological study of its kind in more than 20 years. The previous three largest… Read More

A recent paper, published by Xue and colleagues in the [i]Archives of Internal Medicine[/i], looked at the association between active or passive smoking and breast cancer risk among the Nurses’ Health Study cohort [1]. The Nurses’ Health Study is a prospective cohort study of 111,140 participants followed up from 1976 to 2006 for active smoking… Read More

LaCroix and colleagues [1] recently reported health outcomes after stopping therapy among postmenopausal women randomized to conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) in the estrogen-only arm of the Women’s Health Initiative. A total of 7645 women (78% of the original cohort) gave consent to be included in this follow-up over a mean duration of 10.7 years. Post-intervention… Read More

There has been a continuous interest in the consequences of excessive weight on health outcomes, mainly because of the fact that the world’s population is becoming heavier. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 billion people are overweight, with 300 million meeting the criteria for obesity. A recent review on this issue [1]… Read More

A recently published randomized, controlled trial [1] has examined the effects of a topical vaginal pH-balanced gel on symptoms of atrophic vaginitis amongst women who have been treated for breast cancer. Ninety-eight women were enrolled in the study and 86 completed the trial. All participants were postmenopausal prior to the diagnosis of their breast cancer.… Read More

Fung and colleagues have recently reported on a cross-sectional study, followed by a prospective analysis, on the effect of continuous postmenopausal estrogen therapy over a period of 10 years on blood pressure, microalbuminuria and renal function [1]. A total of 1044 postmenopausal women (mean age 72 years) were evaluated cross-sectionally between 1992 and 1996. These… Read More