(Press-News.org) CLEVELAND, June 8 -- As new research continues to document the incidence of bothersome hot flashes lasting into the mid-60s for many women, the medical industry has had to rethink the way it approaches menopause therapy. As a result, earlier this month The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) issued its statement on the continuing use of systemic hormone therapy after age 65.
'The official position of NAMS is that there shouldn't be hard and fast rules against hormones after age 65,' said Wulf Utian, M.D., medical director for NAMS. 'Yes, there may be safety concerns, and the Society does recommend that a woman use the lowest dose of hormones for the time appropriate to meet her needs. But we know that, under some circumstances, hormone therapy can be appropriate for women over age 65, such as those instances when the benefits of treating hot flashes outweigh the risks or when a woman has a high risk of bone fractures and can't take other bone drugs or can't withstand their side effects.'
Utian points out the challenge that many Medicare plans, insurance companies and healthcare providers have not kept up with the latest studies, such as the one being published in the July 2015 print edition of Menopause, the journal of NAMS ('Moderate to severe vasomotor and sexual symptoms remain problematic for women aged 60 to 65 years.') Rather, they often deny coverage or refuse to prescribe hormone therapy because of supposed safety concerns, justifying that position on the basis of a standard list of medications that may harm older people, known as the Beers list, which includes hormones.
'The Beers list wasn't meant to be a hard and fast rule,' said Utian. 'And, in fact, it has changed over time. In 2012, for example, it added a new category of medications that should be used 'with caution'. And that's just how they should be used, fully understanding all the risks and having your doctor monitor you closely for any problems. That's what we call 'judicious use.''
The large study being published in Menopause is just one of several to quantify how prevalent troublesome hot flashes are for women at different ages. It included 2,000 women 40 to 65 years old who were representative of the Australian population.
Today, many guidelines still recommend against using systemic hormones for women more than 10 years after menopause or after age 60 and to use them only for a limited time -- ideally three to five years. But that leaves a group of women older than age 60 who have really bothersome symptoms without a proven option.
The disconnect between guideline recommendations and real-world clinical practice and the low utilization of effective non-hormonal therapies for hot flashes demonstrate that menopause has gone 'off the radar' as an important health issue and, as a result, it remains largely undertreated, according to the study's authors.
'The use of hormone therapy should be individualized and not discontinued solely based on a woman's age,' said Dr. Utian. 'NAMS encourages all women bothered by their menopause symptoms to seek the help they need and consider all of their options with the guidance of their clinician.'
INFORMATION:
Founded in 1989, The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) is North America's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the health and quality of life of all women during midlife and beyond through an understanding of menopause and healthy aging. Its multidisciplinary membership of 2,000 leaders in the field -- including clinical and basic science experts from medicine, nursing, sociology, psychology, nutrition, anthropology, epidemiology, pharmacy, and education -- makes NAMS uniquely qualified to serve as the definitive resource for health professionals and the public for accurate, unbiased information about menopause and healthy aging. To learn more about NAMS, visit http://www.menopause.org. END
PITTSBURGH, June 10 -- Women who experience more hot flashes, particularly while sleeping, during the menopause transition are more likely to have brain changes reflecting a higher risk for cerebrovascular disease, such as stroke and other brain blood flow problems, according to a pilot study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine published online today in Menopause and funded by the National Institutes of Health.
More than 70 percent of women have hot flashes -- a sudden feeling of intense warmth and sweatiness -- while transitioning into ...
A new report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), in collaboration with the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, found that one in four of the city's residents live in so-called food deserts with limited access to healthy foods.
The report, released today, is available online on the Center for a Livable Future's Maryland Food System Map website. The findings were highlighted at a press conference featuring Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, other city officials and CLF representatives.
Neighborhoods with food deserts have ...
MIAMI - An international team, led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, has developed a new, timelier method to identify harmful bacteria levels on recreational beaches. The new model provides beach managers with a better prediction tool to identify when closures are required to protect beachgoers from harmful contaminates in the water.
"The development of this new model has allowed us, for the first time, to estimate contamination levels on beaches subject to nonpoint source pollution, in particular from ...
Short boys are three times more likely than short girls to receive recombinant human growth hormone treatment for idiopathic short stature (ISS), even though in a general pediatric population, equal proportions of both genders fall under the height threshold designating ISS. Researchers who analyzed records of over 283,000 U.S. children and adolescents found a clear-cut and persistent gender bias in the provision of treatment.
"Growth is an important sign of child health, so growth failure merits equal consideration for both boys and girls," said study leader Adda Grimberg, ...
DARIEN, IL - A new study suggest sleep problems and energy product use are associated with increased alcohol use in teens, even after controlling for sociodemographics and mental health.
Results show that both sleeping problems and use of energy products are associated with greater risk of alcohol use in teenagers, according to a study conducted by the RAND Corporation.
"Our findings suggest that teenagers may be using highly caffeinated energy products to cope with sleep loss, and both sleep problems and energy product use are associated with increased risk of alcohol ...
INDIANAPOLIS -- The worldwide demand for legumes, one of the world's most important agricultural food crops, is growing; at the same time, their production has been adversely affected by drought. In an Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis research paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers provide information that could help agricultural planning and management to minimize drought-induced yield losses.
Legumes, which include peas, beans, peanuts and alfalfa, are grown in almost every climatic region and are second only to cereals in terms ...
Plants can undergo the same extreme 'chromosome shattering' seen in some human cancers and developmental syndromes, UC Davis researchers have found. Chromosome shattering, or 'chromothripsis,' has until now only been seen in animal cells. A paper on the work is published in the online journal eLife.
The process could be applied in plant breeding as a way to create haploid plants with genetic material from only one parent, said Ek Han Tan, a postdoctoral researcher in the UC Davis Department of Plant Biology and first author on the paper. Although plants don't get cancer, ...
The public can now make a more informed choice about long-term care thanks to a new online tool launched today that compares facilities across Canada based on nine indicators such as safety, quality of life and general health of residents.
Researchers at the University of Waterloo led the development of the assessment criteria and quality measures that will allow people to compare data of more than 1,000 facilities. They are members of interRAI, a global network developing assessment and screening tools to support vulnerable populations.
'This website provides Canadians ...
A large data-mining study carried out by investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine has linked a popular class of heartburn drugs to an elevated risk of heart attack.
Proton-pump inhibitors, or PPIs, are among the world's most widely prescribed drugs, with $14 billion in annual sales. They are effective at lowering the acidity of the stomach, in turn preventing heartburn, a burning sensation in the chest that occurs when stomach acid rises up into the esophagus. In any given year, more than 20 million Americans -- about one in every 14 -- use PPIs such ...
Chimpanzee may be able to use facial expressions and vocalizations flexibly, notably during physical contact play, according to a study published June 10, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Marina Davila-Ross from University of Portsmouth, UK and colleagues.
The ability to flexibly produce facial expressions and vocalizations has a strong impact on the way humans communicate, but scientists' understanding of nonhuman primate facial expressions and vocalizations is limited. The authors of this study investigated whether chimpanzees produce the same types of ...
