RxPG News : Menstruation Disturbances

Testosterone perks up libido in post-menopausal women

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:52:19 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, Nov 7 - Testosterone perks up libido in post-menopausal women, according to a new study.

The study of over 800 women from the US, Canada, Australia, Britain and Sweden is the first to show that testosterone administered by a skin patch can boost the sex drive of post-menopausal women.

Previous studies have shown testosterone treatment for low libido is beneficial for women undergoing oestrogen therapy. However, this study shows testosterone by itself could be a good alternative for women who do not want to take oestrogen, according to a Cedars-Sinai press release.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre experts co-authored the study that appeared in Thursday's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Hot flashes have a genetic component

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:42:40 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Many women in the menopausal transition experience hot flashes: unpredictable, sometimes disruptive, periods of intense heat in the upper torso, neck and face. Although generations of physicians have prescribed hormones to reduce these symptoms, very little research has focused on the underlying causes of hot flashes.

Three new studies explore the role of genes, obesity and alcohol consumption in contributing to â or lessening â the intensity and frequency of hot flashes in midlife women. These studies are part of a five-year research effort led by University of Illinois veterinary biosciences professor Jodi Flaws and colleagues at the University of Maryland, Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore and the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

Physicians have long noted that some factors, such as smoking, increase the likelihood that a woman will experience more â or more intense â hot flashes than other women. Race also appears to play a role, with African American women at higher risk than others. But the mechanisms that cause some women to suffer from severe (frequent and intense) hot flashes have remained a mystery.

âEven though more than 40 million women experience hot flashes each year,â the authors wrote in their paper published in Maturitas, âlittle is known about the factors that predispose women to hot flashes.â

To examine whether genetics might play a role in hot flashes, Flaws and her colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study involving 639 women aged 45 to 54. The researchers looked at individual differences in the genes that code for various hormones. An earlier study by the same team had found that one of these genetic polymorphisms, in an estrogen metabolizing enzyme, cytochrome P450 1B1, was more common in women who reported higher-than-average frequency, intensity and duration of hot flashes.

The new study tied the same genetic polymorphism to lower levels of an androgen known as DHEA-S, and to lower progesterone levels.

These are the first studies to find evidence of a genetic basis for hot flashes, and the first to look at genetic polymorphisms associated with hormone levels in healthy women with and without hot flashes.

The progesterone finding is of particular interest, said Flaws, because the medical community has focused almost exclusively on the role of low estrogen levels in bringing on hot flashes. Hormone replacement therapy, which is sometimes offered to women to alleviate hot flashes or other symptoms of the menopausal transition, may include one or more estrogens alone or in combination with progesterone or an analogue, progestin.

âWe think there should be more studies looking at the role of progesterone in causing hot flashes,â Flaws said.

The research team identified a second polymorphism, in a gene encoding an enzyme, 3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, which also is associated with an increase in hot flashes.

âPeople typically didnât think of hot flashes as having a genetic component,â Flaws said. âNow we have some evidence that there is at least in part some genetics behind it.â

In another paper, published in the journal Climacteric, the researchers used the same data to analyze the link between obesity and hot flashes. They had shown in an earlier study that obesity is associated with more frequent and intense hot flashes in midlife women. They now wanted to see what might be causing this effect: Did the higher incidence of hot flashes in obese women correlate with varying levels of specific hormones or other factors?

When looking at blood levels of specific hormones and related enzymes, the researchers found a significant link between obesity and hormone levels. Higher body mass index (BMI) was significantly correlated with higher testosterone and lower total estradiol, estrone, progesterone and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in midlife women.

The researchers were surprised by the findings related to estrogen, because adipose tissue produces and stores estradiol, the major estrogen in humans. Most people had assumed that obese women would have higher circulating estrogen levels because of this, Flaws said. That assumption turned out to be incorrect, at least for women in midlife.

âIt could be that estrogen levels are higher in the fat, but not circulating in the blood,â she said. âItâs the blood that gets to the brain and to the thermoregulatory centers that govern hot flashes.â

A third analysis, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, examined the influence of alcohol consumption on hot flashes in midlife women.

This study attempted to explain an earlier finding that moderate alcohol consumption (up to three drinks per month) actually reduced the severity of hot flashes by 25 percent. This effect vanished in women who consumed more than three drinks per month.

Because alcohol consumption is known to affect metabolism in some animals, the team thought that light drinking might alter sex steroid hormone levels in midlife women. But their analysis failed to turn up any significant hormonal differences between the alcohol users and the women who never used alcohol.

âWe donât know why (moderate alcohol consumption) is reducing the risk of hot flashes, other than it doesnât seem to be doing so by changing hormone levels,â Flaws said.

Together, these studies point to some risk factors for hot flashes that women can change and others that cannot be changed, Flaws said.

âBody mass index, alcohol use and smoking are three things that can change,â she said. âSo probably if women quit smoking, and they lose weight, it will reduce their risk. If they (engage in) light drinking, that might also reduce the risk of hot flashes. And then thereâs the genetic piece, which we canât change.â

Treatment with hormones improves visual memory of postmenopausal women

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:37:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Many women experience declines in their memory during and after menopause, a change thought to be due, in part, to the rapid hormonal changes they weather during that time.

Now, research from the University of Michigan Health System suggests that hormone therapy might help women retain certain memory functions. In a study in the new issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, they report that a group of postmenopausal women showed more brain activity during a visual memory test than did women who were not taking the hormone therapy.

The 10 postmenopausal women in the study, ages 50-60, were given hormone therapy or a placebo for four weeks, followed by a month with no medications, and then four weeks of the other treatment. Their brain activation was measured as they were shown a complex grid of 81 squares, with 40 of them darkened to form a pattern.

Participants were asked to find the matching image from a choice of two, with the new set of images presented after varying time periods (one to four seconds). During the time that the two images were shown, participants were asked to choose the one that matched the initial grid by pressing one of two buttons on an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)-compatible response pad.

Those who were taking combined estrogen-progestin hormone therapy showed significantly increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain that is critical in memory tasks, compared with those on placebo (a pill with no medicinal value). The researchers used images from functional MRI, or fMRI, to compare the participants' brain activity.

"Our findings suggest that even relatively short periods of hormone therapy have effects on the memory systems that may be of benefit to some women during the perimenopausal transition or early postmenopause," says lead author Yolanda R. Smith, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the U-M Medical School.

"Other studies have indicated that long-term hormone therapy is not beneficial for the prevention of chronic illnesses," Smith says. "But our study indicates that the effects of short-term hormone therapy on brain circuitry and function warrant further study."

The role of estrogen in maintaining brain function is of great significance as the population ages and the incidence of dementia increases, says senior author Jon-Kar Zubieta, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and radiology at the U-M Medical School and associate research scientist at U-M's Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute (MBNI).

Zubieta notes that working memory that is, a limited-capacity storage system that allows the brain to actively maintain and manipulate information that is critical for conducting many daily activities over short time periods has been demonstrated to be less efficient in older adults. This decline has been linked with changes in the prefrontal cortex.

"Our finding of increased activation in the prefrontal cortex in older women using hormone therapy is important and suggestive of potential therapies that need to be explored further," he says. "Eventually, this could lead to new options for women as they enter a time when memory problems typically develop."

Ultra low-dose estrogen shown safe for post-menopausal women

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:17:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A study led by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center has shown that extremely low doses of estrogen had no ill effects on the cognitive abilities or general health of older women over the course of two years.

"This is exciting. It shows that women can take estrogen safely," observes lead author Kristine Yaffe, MD, chief of geriatric psychiatry at SFVAMC and associate professor of psychiatry, neurology, and epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 2004, study results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a nationwide longitudinal study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, indicated that estrogen was associated with an increased risk of dementia among women 65 and older, as well as with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

"Those results raised a lot of doubts about whether women should be taking estrogen at all," Yaffe notes.

The current study, published in the July 2006 issue of Archives of Neurology, looked specifically at the potential effects of estrogen on cognitive abilities and quality of life. A group of 417 post-menopausal women aged 60 to 80 were randomly assigned to receive a daily .014 milligram dose of either estradiol, a form of estrogen, or a placebo through a skin patch for two years. The women were given a battery of standardized cognitive tests and a test of health-related quality of life at the beginning of the study, after one year, and after two years.

At the end of the study, there was no difference between the two groups in either cognitive abilities or health-related quality of life.

"The results are very reassuring, because it suggests that women can use this patch without harm for two years," says Yaffe. "It would benefit their bones and might have a beneficial effect in terms of hot flashes."

A related study of the same group of women showed a significant increase in bone density, without adverse health effects, in the women who took estradiol compared to the women who took placebo. The current study was a pre-planned secondary investigation.

Yaffe speculates that the differences in health and cognition outcomes between these two studies and the WHI studies could be related to three factors: dose, type of estrogen, and means of delivery.

The women in the WHI studies received .625 milligrams per day of conjugated estrogen â a mixture of estrogen from several different sources â in pill form. In contrast, the women studied by Yaffe and her associates received a daily dose of estradiol â pure human estrogen â that was over 44 times smaller and delivered through a skin patch.

"The different between a patch and a pill is significant because medications taken in pill form are processed through the liver before they reach the bloodstream," explains Yaffe. "It's thought that estrogen in pill form might stimulate the liver to produce substances that can lead to clotting or other adverse side effects. With a patch, you bypass the liver and go straight to the blood."

Yaffe notes that since the WHI results were announced in 2004, "the field of estrogen research has been stymied. Hopefully, this study will start to turn the tide."

Gabapentin as effective as estrogen in treating hot flashes

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 22:50:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) University of Rochester researchers, who have been investigating new therapies for hot flashes for several years, report in the July Obstetrics and Gynecology journal that the seizure drug gabapentin is as effective as estrogen, which used to be the gold standard treatment for menopause symptoms.

Estrogen is no longer the preferred therapy because recent, large studies have shown that the hormone increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease for some women. Given that news, millions of women have abandoned hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and are seeking other ways to ease symptoms. So-called natural remedies such as soy, herbal products or acupuncture have not proven safe or effective at this point.

The latest Rochester study is the first to compare gabapentin and estrogen head-to-head against a placebo. Although it showed a substantial placebo effect similar to other menopause studies women taking the sugar pill reported a 54-percent reduction in hot flashes the women taking gabapentin and estrogen reported even better results, with a 71 percent to 72 percent decline in symptoms.

"Gabapentin does appear to be as effective as estrogen," said lead author Sireesha Y. Reddy, M.D., assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "Until now its efficacy relative to estrogen was unknown."

Approximately 75 percent of postmenopausal women between the ages of 35 and 60 experience hot flashes. Gabapentin (sold under the trade name Neurontin) was approved by the FDA in 1994 to treat epileptic seizures but has been used off-label for years to treat headaches, shingles pain and other ailments. Scientists hypothesize that gabapentin may reduce hot flashes by regulating the flow of calcium in and out of cells, which is one mechanism for controlling body temperature.

An expert panel on menopause convened by the National Institutes of Health last year cautioned against the tendency to use treatments with scant safety data, and concluded that nothing to date was as effective as estrogen therapy although more research was needed.

In the latest study, Reddy and colleagues enrolled 60 women in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial for 12 weeks. Initially the researchers received more than 1,500 calls from women who wanted to participate, but after screening the callers to meet the study's protocol, the number was whittled to 60, with 53 women complying with every step.

They were randomly divided into three groups: 20 women received gabapentin at 2,400 mg per day and a daily placebo or fake estrogen pill; 20 received estrogen in the form of Premarin at 0.625 mg per day and a fake gabapentin pill; 20 received sugar pills resembling gabapentin and estrogen. The women recorded the frequency and severity of their hot flashes in diaries.

Results were tabulated using two statistical methods to compare the women's hot flash reports throughout the 12-week period with their baseline symptoms. Doctors did find that women who took gabapentin complained more often of headaches, dizziness or disorientation. Researchers believe that slowly ramping up the medication and taking it with meals can alleviate the side effects.

To what extent can hot flashes in midlife women be considered a cause of chronic insomnia?

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:18:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Millions of women experience menopause each year, and many find themselves having to cope with a plethora of unpleasant symptoms. Hot flashes, headaches and mood swings all come with the territory and, for some women, so does insomnia.

Maurice Ohayon, MD, PhD, DSc, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of sleep epidemiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, recently sought to determine the factors that contribute to insomnia among these midlife women. Below is a snapshot of his research findings, which will appear in the July 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Because hot flashes may occur during the night, their presence has been frequently associated with insomnia; however, many other factors can be responsible for insomnia. These include anxiety and depression, which often occur during menopause, and sleep apnea or other sleep disorders, which become more common with age.

Researchers conducted telephone interviews with 982 women, ages 35 to 65, about their sleep history, hot flashes and overall health status. Chronic insomnia was defined as having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep at least three nights a week for the past six months or more. Hot flashes were evaluated on their frequency, severity and daytime functioning. The results were controlled for the presence of variables generally associated with insomnia.

The overall prevalence of hot flashes was 79 percent in perimenopausal women (having at least one menstrual cycle in the past 12 months) and 51 percent in postmenopausal women (no menstrual cycles in the past year) - figures that are consistent with those from previous studies. The prevalence of insomnia was 57 percent in perimenopausal women and 51 percent in postmenopausal women. While insomnia was influenced by several factors, such as poor health and sleep apnea, hot flashes seemed to play the largest role. In particular, chronic insomnia dramatically increased among women with severe hot flashes: 81 percent of women experiencing them had symptoms of insomnia. The temporal relationship between symptoms of insomnia and menopause shows that insomnia is more likely to occur around or after the beginning of menopause.

"In this paper, we have observed without any doubt and in a significant way that hot flashes are associated with insomnia. This is the first observational study showing the link between insomnia and hot flashes while controlling for other factors that could account for insomnia in women."

Physicians can help improve sleep quality and minimize consequences of insomnia among certain patients by focusing on treating hot flashes, rather than pursuing other avenues.

Dry eye in women related to menopause

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:27:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Women suffer from dry eye more than men and the change in hormone levels due to menopause could be one reason for it, according to a new survey.

Dry eye is a common condition that occurs when the eyes do not produce enough tears to keep the eye wet and comfortable. Its common symptoms include feelings of stinging, burning or scratchiness of the eyes.

But it can also be a chronic condition that can lead to increased risk of infection or visual impairment, reported the online edition of the New York Times. It impacts the quality of life, as well as the physical health, of 10 million Americans each year.

While 62 percent of older women experience dry eye, only 16 percent know it's linked to menopause, the new survey by the Society for Women's Health Research that polled 304 menopausal and perimenopausal women found.

Of those women who had experienced dry eye, only 59 percent had spoken to their doctor about the condition, the survey found. When it came to treatment for dry eye, 58 percent had tried over-the-counter eye drops to ease their symptoms.

Approximately 3.2 million American women over the age of 50 are affected by chronic dry eye, president of the society Phyllis E. Greenberger said. "For many women, dry eye is related to the change in hormone levels of menopause," she notes.

Since the risk of dry eye increases with age, the number of people affected will increase as the population ages. Many more women suffer from dry eye than men. In fact, dry eye is about two to three times more common in women.

Dry eye can also be caused by conditions such as lacrimal gland disease that affects tear production, or conditions that decrease corneal sensation such as lasik eye surgery, long-term contact lens wear and diabetes.

Early Transition To Menopause May Increase Risk For First Onset Of Depression

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 19:27:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) In a study, Lee S. Cohen, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues from the Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles examined the association between the menopausal transition and onset of first lifetime episode of depression among women with no history of mood disturbance. The Harvard Study of Moods and Cycles is a study of premenopausal women with and without a lifetime history of major depression.

The participants in this research were 460 premenopausal women, 36 to 45 years of age, with no lifetime diagnosis of major depression, residing in seven Boston area communities. The incidence of new onset of depression was based on structured clinical interviews, CES-D scores, and self-administered questionnaires.

"Premenopausal women with no lifetime history of major depression who entered the perimenopause were twice as likely to develop significant depressive symptoms as women who remained premenopausal, after adjustment for age at study enrollment and history of negative life events," the researchers found. "The increased risk for depression was somewhat greater in women with self-reported vasomotor symptoms (for example, hot flashes)."

"The current study suggests that within a similarly aged population of women with no lifetime history of depression, those who enter the menopausal transition earlier have a significant risk for first onset of depression," the authors state. "In the United States only, approximately 1.5 million women may reach menopause each year. A spectrum of symptoms and syndromes has been extensively described in women during the menopausal transition including severe vasomotor symptoms, loss of bone density, sexual dysfunction, a decline in cognitive function, and a potential increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Thus, the comorbidity of these problems with perimenopause-associated depression could affect many aging women, leading to a compounded burden of illness," the authors conclude.

Transition To Menopause Associated With New Onset Of Depressive Symptoms

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 19:25:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Women with no history of depression may be at an increased risk of new onset depressive symptoms and disorders as they transition to menopause, according to two studies in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

As background information in the articles, the authors write that although the transition to menopause has long been considered a time of increased risk for developing depressive symptoms, there is little scientific evidence to connect the change in reproductive hormones, menopausal status and mental health.

Ellen W. Freeman, Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, and colleagues evaluated data from 231 premenopausal women who had no history of depression at the start of the study. The participants ranged in age from 35 to 47 and were followed for eight years. At set intervals, blood samples were obtained to determine hormone levels and trained research interviewers obtained overall health and demographic information, including any menopausal symptoms experienced. Depressive symptoms were assessed by using the Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression scale (CES-D), and the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) was used to identify clinical diagnoses of depressive disorders.

"High CES-D scores were more than four times more likely to occur during a woman's menopausal transition compared with when she was premenopausal," the authors report. Changes in hormonal levels were significantly associated with high CES-D scores after adjusting for smoking, body mass index, premenstrual syndrome, hot flashes, poor sleep, health status, employment and marital status. According to the authors, "a diagnosis of depressive disorder was two-and-a-half times more likely to occur in the menopausal transition compared with when the woman was premenopausal; the hormone measures were also significantly associated with this outcome."

"In summary, our data indicate that transition to menopause and its changing hormonal milieu are strongly associated with both new onset of high depressive symptoms and new onset of diagnosed depressive disorders in women with no history of depression. Further follow-up study is needed to determine the extent to which these reports of depressed mood are limited to the perimenopausal period and to determine whether the identified risk factors are associated with more persistent depression," the authors conclude.

Women approaching menopause may face depression

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:41:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Women approaching menopause are likely to face depression, says a study that suggests that such women should go for aggressive treatment.

Depression is a substantial illness with significant morbidity for patients and their families although it is a problem that can be managed, reports the health portal WebMd.

Lee S. Cohen and other researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital studied 460 Boston women aged 36 to 45 for up to six years and found strongest evidences that hormonal changes may be at least partially to blame for it.

The studied women were pre-menopausal at enrolment, meaning they still had regular periods or had not undergone other changes indicative of transition to menopause.

None of the women had ever been diagnosed with major depression. But those who entered perimenopause during the study period were almost twice as likely as those who didn't to develop significant symptoms of depression, according to the findings of the study that appeared in the April issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

The risk was greater in perimenopausal women who also had hot flashes, but it was still greatly elevated in those who did not have this and other common symptoms associated with transitioning to menopause, Cohen said.

Researchers argue in favour of aggressive treatment of both menopausal symptoms and depression symptoms occurring during the transition to menopause.

"There is a tendency to dismiss symptoms of depression as part and parcel of this transition, but they shouldn't be discounted," Cohen said.

Exploring memory problems at menopause

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 22:02:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Women who feel that they become more forgetful as menopause approaches shouldn't just "fuhgetabout it": There may be something to their own widespread reports that they're more likely to forget things as menopause approaches, say scientists who reported results from a small study today at the annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Boston.

The team from the University of Rochester Medical Center found that the issue is not really impaired memory. Instead, the team found a link between complaints of forgetfulness and the way middle-aged, stressed women learn or "encode" new information.

"This is not what most people think of traditionally when they think of memory loss," said co-author Mark Mapstone, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neurology. "It feels like a memory problem, but the cause is different. It feels like you can't remember, but that's because you never really learned the information in the first place."

The findings come from Mapstone and Miriam Weber, Ph.D., memory experts at the University's Memory Disorders Clinic who are seeing more and more middle-aged women who say they are having problems with forgetfulness.

"We see a lot of women who are afraid they are losing their minds," said Weber, a senior instructor of Neurology, who presented the results. "A lot of women complain that their thinking or their memory isn't what it used to be. Their big fear is that it's early Alzheimer's disease."

The team found nothing to support the idea that such women are on their way to developing Alzheimer's disease, and they didn't find any problem with what most people consider "memory." But they did make a finding that helps explain why women in their 40s and 50s frequently say they're having memory problems: It's possible that their changing moods and hectic lives make it harder to keep track of everything.

The work is the latest salvo in a years-long back and forth about memory, menopause, and estrogen. Doctors long thought that hormone-replacement therapy helped protect women against cognitive decline. But three years ago, scientists announced that HRT slightly raises the risk of developing dementia. Those results came soon after other results where scientists said that HRT brings with it increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

When it comes to memory, a study in 2003 of more than 800 women found no evidence that memory problems occur as part of menopause. But neuropsychologists like Weber and Mapstone continue to see a steady stream of patients reporting memory problems as they approach menopause, mixing in with more typical older patients with problems like Alzheimer's disease.

So Weber and Mapstone put 24 women who complained of memory problems through a battery of tests that tested several cognitive skills, not just traditional memory, where a piece of information is stored away and then retrieved later.

Like the 2003 study, Weber and Mapstone found no evidence that women approaching menopause suffer from strictly memory problems any more than anyone else ï¿½ of the 24 women tested, they found only one who had any type of impaired memory, where a person flat out forgets things she once knew or remembered.

Looking more closely, however, they did find that the women who complained more about problems with forgetfulness had a harder time learning or "encoding" new information, which can masquerade as a problem with memory. While the team found a clear correlation between the level of the women's complaints and their ability to learn new information, Weber and Mapstone point out that none of the women actually had an impaired ability to learn new information. They say a larger, more thorough study, involving hundreds of women and a broad array of cognitive tests before and during menopause, is needed to understand the link more fully.

Mapstone and Weber liken the problem of encoding new information to a situation where a doctor tells a patient that something serious may be wrong and gives a lot of detail. Afterwards, the person gets home and can hardly remember what the doctor said. It's not that the person necessarily forgot what was said; it's more likely that they never really heard the doctor the first time, because they were so anxious and worried.

The same may be true of women approaching menopause, many of whom live a life filled with stress and worry. Indeed, Weber and Mapstone found that most of the women in their study had some sort of mood distress, including symptoms of depression or anxiety.

"When people spread their attention thin, it's difficult to encode new information. When they're worried or anxious about being late for work, or the problems of an aging parent ï¿½ that sort of stress can rob your attentional resources and impact your ability to encode information properly," said Mapstone, who said similar difficulty taking in new information is typical of nearly any man or woman who is anxious or depressed.

Weber said the study points out the importance for women who are feeling anxious or depressed to seek treatment, a step that should ease any cognitive difficulties.

"What characterizes these women is that they're being pulled in a lot of different directions. Many work ï¿½ they have careers, aging parents, children. Then they're going through this dramatic hormonal change," Weber said.

"This will resonate for most women," said Weber. "There really is something going on. And perhaps knowing that their perceived problems with memory do not suggest early dementia might alleviate their concerns and actually improve their functioning ï¿½ it's one less thing to worry about."

Diet rich in calcium, vitamin D may lower risk premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 03:31:38 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A diet rich in calcium and vitamin D may lower the risk of developing premenstrual syndrome (PMS), according to a study in the June 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

While most women may experience mild emotional or physical premenstrual symptoms, as many as eight to 20 percent of women experience symptoms severe enough to meet the definition of premenstrual syndrome, characterized by moderate to severe symptoms that substantially interfere with normal life activities and interpersonal relationships, according to background information in the article. Previous studies have suggested that calcium supplements and vitamin D, a hormone that regulates the absorption of calcium, may reduce premenstrual occurrence and severity.

Elizabeth R. Bertone-Johnson, Sc.D., of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and colleagues compared the diets and supplement use of 1,057 women aged 27 to 44 years who reported developing PMS over the course of 10 years to 1,968 women who reported no diagnosis of PMS or no or minimal premenstrual symptoms in the same time period. The women, who participated in the Nurses Health Study (NHS), all reported no PMS in 1991, at the beginning of the study period. Their intake of calcium and vitamin D from diet and/or supplements was calculated from food frequency and standard NHS questionnaires administered in 1991, 1995 and 1999.

"We observed a significantly lower risk of developing PMS in women with high intakes of vitamin D and calcium from food sources, equivalent to about four servings per day of skim or low-fat milk, fortified orange juice or low-fat dairy foods such as yogurt," the authors write. "These dietary intakes correspond to approximately 1,200 mg. of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D from food sources. While previous studies have observed the benefits of calcium supplements for treating PMS, this is the first, to our knowledge, to suggest that calcium and vitamin D may help prevent the initial development of PMS."

"Our findings, together with those from several small randomized trials that found calcium supplements to be effective in treating PMS, suggest that a high intake of calcium and vitamin D may reduce the risk of PMS," the authors conclude. "Clinical trials of this issue are warranted. In the interim, given that calcium and vitamin D may also reduce risk of osteoporosis and some cancers, clinicians may consider recommending these nutrients even for younger women."