Menopause Affects Women Differently

Menopause Affects Women Differently.
Women bothered by sought-after flashes or other clobber of menopause have a number of treatment options - hormonal or not, according to updated guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It's estimated that anywhere from 50 percent to 82 percent of women present through menopause have searing flashes - unanticipated feelings of outrageous eagerness in the upper body - and night sweats pregnancy. For many, the symptoms are common and severe enough to cause sleep problems and disrupt their daily lives.

And the duration of the ordeal can last from a couple years to more than a decade, says the college, the nation's primary group of ob/gyns. "Menopausal symptoms are common, and can be very bothersome to women," said Dr Clarisa Gracia, who helped inscribe the recent guidelines. "Women should certain that effective treatments are available to address these symptoms" vigrx top. The guidelines, published in the January publication of Obstetrics andamp; Gynecology, strengthen some longstanding advice: Hormone therapy, with estrogen abandoned or estrogen plus progestin, is the most effective way to shameless hot flashes.

But they also lay out the growing evidence that some antidepressants can inform an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In studies, squat doses of antidepressants such as venlafaxine (Effexor) and fluoxetine (Prozac) have helped disencumber hot flashes in some women. And two other drugs - the anti-seizure medication gabapentin and the blood to medication clonidine - can be effective, according to the guidelines.

So far, though, only one non-hormonal sedate is as a matter of fact approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating peppery flashes: a low-dose version of the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil). And experts said that while there is denote some hormone alternatives manipulate hot flashes, none works as well as estrogen and estrogen-progestin. "Unfortunately, many providers are craven to prescribe hormones.

And a lot of the time, women are fearful," said Dr Patricia Sulak, an ob/gyn at Scott andamp; White Hospital in Temple, Texas, who was not tortuous in calligraphy the unripe guidelines. Years ago, doctors routinely prescribed hormone replacement cure after menopause to lower women's jeopardy of heart disease, among other things. But in 2002, a munificent US trial called the Women's Health Initiative found that women given estrogen-progestin pills in actuality had slightly increased risks of blood clots, pump attack and breast cancer. "Use of hormones plummeted" after that.

But probe since then has suggested that hormone remedy is safer for relatively younger women who start using it soon after menopause, the turn up notes. Women in that landmark study were in their betimes 60s, on average - whereas US women typically hit menopause at around lifetime 51. Experts now say that women should not clutch hormones to prevent any chronic ills. But when it comes to animated flashes, hormone therapy remains the most effective option.

Another ob/gyn agreed that doctors and women in the same manner are often reluctant to meditate hormones. "Since the Women's Health Initiative, we've been groove on little fishes swimming upstream," said Dr Jill Rabin, of Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY To succour decry any risks it's urgent to keep the hormone quantity at the lowest level needed to relieve a woman's symptoms. "I'm an estrogen minimalist.

I'm flourishing to start you at a low dose, and that's enough for most women". Women who should not adjudge hormones include those who've ever had mamma cancer or a blood clot. Hot flashes and evensong sweats are the most common menopause complaint. But vaginal dryness and trouble during sex are also issues for many women. The guidelines suggest that estrogen applied directly to the vagina - in the model of creams, tablets or rings - is effective.

So "Very little" of that estrogen gets into the bloodstream so the gamble of side crap is considered small. And just this year, the FDA approved a creative option for treating painful sex in postmenopausal women. It's a pilule called ospemifene (Osphena), and it has estrogen-like possessions on the lining of the vagina. As for "natural" remedies, such as soy and infernal cohosh, studies have failed to prove they're in operation for hot flashes and night sweats, the guidelines say.

However, Rabin said that some women who hear supplements do feel better - even if it's by a "placebo effect". There are some "common sense" tactics any lass can use to employee ease hot flashes, the guidelines say. Those subsume dressing in layers, keeping the thermostat move at home and drinking cool beverages. But for women who call for more than that, Gracia advised talking to your doctor about the benefits and risks of all your options ultimate fm live lesotho. "Therapy should be individualized, since one treatment may not be optimal for all women".