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.

Genetic link between hormones and migraine

Director of the Genomics Research Centre Professor Lyn Griffiths and her team of researchers at Griffith University have identified a genetic link between hormones and migraine.

9 Jun 2004

There are still benefits from hormone therapy after menopause

Despite the highly publicized closing of the Women’s Health Initiative study, the scientific community should not rule out that women may benefit from hormone therapy after menopause, say researchers at UC Davis, Duke and Harvard Universities.

31 May 2004

Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) - an alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

Throughout the course of a woman's life she may experience many hormone related symptoms or problems, including premenstrual syndrome, hot flashes, unexplained mood swings, osteoporosis, weight gain and low libido. Many of these symptoms are caused by hormonal imbalances, often from menopause.

25 May 2004

Intensive exercising after menopause may reduce bone loss

Early postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who participate in an intense exercise program may experience reduced bone loss, reduced back pain, and lower cholesterol levels, according to an article in the May 24 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

24 May 2004

New treatment for dry eye syndrome (keratoconjunctivitis sicca)

Researchers in the department of ophthalmology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson played an important role in the development of Restasis, the first alternative to artificial tears for the treatment of dry eye syndrome.

21 May 2004

Novogen granted Canadian patent for health supplements for the treatment of menopause symptoms

Pharmaceutical company, Novogen, has been granted patent coverage over its OTC products being sold in Canada. The patent covers the isoflavone composition of the products Promensil(TM), Rimostil(TM) and Trinovin(TM).

20 May 2004

Estrogen therapy may help bone density, muscle mass, sexual function, memory, and psychological wellbeing in postmenopausal women

Research in monkeys suggests that long-term use of estrogen therapy may reduce levels of androgens – hormones involved in maintaining bone density, muscle mass, sexual function, memory, and psychological wellbeing in postmenopausal women.

14 May 2004

Female testosterone patch significantly increased satisfying sexual activity and desire

Data from a landmark Phase III safety and efficacy study of 562 women showed treatment with an investigational female testosterone patch significantly increased satisfying sexual activity and desire in patients with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), who previously had both ovaries removed. HSDD is defined as a lack of sexual desire that causes a woman personal distress.

6 May 2004

Adult height loss could suggest future osteoporosis problems

The loss of 2 or more inches in height during adulthood serves as a powerful predictor of osteoporosis in the hip, and thus the risk for hip fractures, in elderly women, according to a new study at The Ohio State University Medical Center. The finding has led researchers to recommend that primary care physicians routinely screen aging patients for height loss. Seth Kantor

1 May 2004

Space technology may help fertility of a woman with cancer

Using technology borrowed from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), scientists at the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine have taken the first steps toward successfully preserving ovarian tissue from rats and mice in culture, including immature egg follicles, according to a study in the current issue of the journal Tissue Engineering.

29 Apr 2004

Menopause often wrongly blamed for poor sleep

Middle-aged women often complain that they sleep poorly, and both women and their health care providers point to menopause as the cause. But University of Michigan researchers Jane Lukacs and Nancy Reame say it may be time to put that assumption to rest.

27 Apr 2004

Estrogen–like drugs may help postmenopausal women

Scientists may debate whether weight gain is a side effect of menopause, but the numbers are clear: On average, women may experience a gain of approximately 10-15 pounds in the years surrounding menopause.

19 Apr 2004

Wine, beer and tea have contributed to a significant decrease in breast cancer

Numerous studies have been published showing that consuming alcohol increases the risk for breast cancer. That’s what makes a new research finding from Portugal so intriguing. The study has determined that certain compounds found in wine, beer (and tea) have contributed to a significant decrease in breast cancer cell proliferation.

19 Apr 2004

Three hours exercise reduces risk of breast cancer

Three hours of moderate exercise per week significantly reduced circulating estrogens in postmenopausal women, according to a new study published in the current issue of Cancer Research. The finding may explain why women who exercise regularly lower their risk for breast cancer.

16 Apr 2004

Women get better picture on hormone replacement therapy

Detailed results of the "estrogen-alone" study within the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), which was terminated in early March 2004, are providing some of the first answers to questions about the efficacy of estrogen alone to prevent chronic disease in healthy, postmenopausal women who have had a hysterectomy.

14 Apr 2004

Stem cells and female reproduction: lessons from an unexpected source

Baltimore, MD. The recent findings reported in Nature (March 11, 2004) by Jonathon Tilly’s group at Harvard Medical School, show that female mice produce stem cells that give rise to eggs. This result overturns previous notions about mammalian reproduction, which held that females are born with all the eggs that they will ever have and that the decline in egg quality that occurs after a certain age is due to an extended aging process. What mammalian research has not been able to address at this point, however, is how these stem cells operate, what prompts them to develop into eggs, and why they are eventually lost. To answer these questions we must turn to our cousin the fruitfly.

22 Mar 2004