In 2008, the National Institutes of Health funded the Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health or MSFlash clinical trials network. The primary goal of MSFlash has been to find and test [...]
While earlier observational studies suggested that hormone treatment may improve cognitive functioning in peri- and postmenopausal women, studies from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) demonstrated that estrogen replacement therapy started in postmenopausal women (65 [...]
There is cumulative evidence suggesting that estrogen might play a role in the development of schizophrenia and therefore may be useful in the treatment of this illness. On average, the first signs of schizophrenia appear [...]
About 80% of women experience vasomotor symptoms (VMS) – hot flashes and night sweats — as they transition into the menopause phase. For most, the symptoms are manageable, but for a sizeable subset of midlife [...]
Increasing numbers of peri- and post-menopausal women request “bioidentical” rather than synthetic hormones. Although there is a tendency to think of bioidentical hormones as “all-natural”, they, like synthetic hormones, are manufactured in the laboratory. In [...]
While there have been concerns regarding the risks associated with prolonged use of hormone replacement, an increasing number of studies suggest that the risk may be relatively low in certain populations and that hormone replacement [...]
We commonly receive questions regarding the potential effects of oral contraceptives (birth control pills) on mood and risk for depression. Despite the prevalence of OC usage, few studies have explored the association between hormonal contraceptive [...]
It has been hypothesized that both premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and postpartum depression (PPD) occur as the result of rapid shifts in the levels of ovarian hormones. Data regarding the prevalence of PPD among women [...]
Estrogens have neuroprotective and antidepressant effects. During the perimenopause, when estrogen levels fluctuate and then fall significantly, women are more vulnerable to depression and cognitive deficits. A recent study has investigated the association between age [...]
According to data presented at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) in Las Vega, a growing number of perimenopausal women are asking their doctors for compounded or bioidentical hormones. Although bioidentical [...]
