• Monthly Archives: March 2012

    NAMS Supports the Use of Hormone Therapy in Perimenopausal and Recently Postmenopausal Women

    The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) has updated its 2010 recommendations regarding the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) based on evidence accumulated subsequent to the previous report.  In the decade since the first publication of the results from the Women's Health Initiative, we have accumulated evidence to indicate that multiple factors influence the effects of hormone therapy, including the type of estrogen used, the way the hormones are given, and the age and recency of menopause of the woman taking the medication. These factors also determine the risks associated with hormone therapy. 

    Children of Depressed Mothers Exposed to Multiple Risk Factors for Psychopathology

    Multiple studies have concluded that the children of depressed mothers are at increased risk for behavioral problems and other mental health issues.   Data from 7429 mother–child pairs participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the UK indicate that maternal depression (assessed when the children were 1.5 year old) is associated with an increased risk of psychiatric diagnoses in the children at 7.5 years of age.

    No Safe Level of Alcohol Use in Pregnancy

    Reduced birth length and weight, microcephaly, and characteristic facial deformities (smooth philtrum and thin vermillion border) are associated with alcohol exposure during the second half of the first trimester and are dose-related.  In this prospective study including 992 subjects, there was no evidence of a threshold, indicating that women should be advised to abstain from alcohol consumption from conception throughout pregnancy.

    Aerobic Training Improves Menopausal Symptoms and Mood

    In this randomized clinical trial, 154 sedentary, symptomatic women were randomly assigned to an aerobic training or a control group. The intervention included unsupervised aerobic training for 50 minutes four times weekly for 24 weeks, whereas the control group attended health lectures twice a month.  Night sweats, mood swings, and irritability were reduced more among the women in the intervention group than in the control group.

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