Menopause

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Menopause is defined as "the permanent cessation of menses (menstruation)."[1]

The typical duration of symptoms is 4 years[2] but may last over 10 years.

Treatment

Estrogen replacement therapy may help.

Second-generation antidepressants (paroxetine, venlafaxine, fluoxetine) and gabapentin may reduce hot flashes according to meta-analysis.[3][4] A more recent randomized controlled trials report benefit from escitalopram which reduces the number of hot flashes per day by about one compared to placebo.[5].


Hot flushes can be reduced in some women with as little as 0.014 mg of 17--estradiol in a daily transdermal patch.[6]

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Menopause. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  2. Politi MC, Schleinitz MD, Col NF (September 2008). "Revisiting the duration of vasomotor symptoms of menopause: a meta-analysis". J Gen Intern Med 23 (9): 1507–13. DOI:10.1007/s11606-008-0655-4. PMID 18521690. Research Blogging.
  3. Nelson HD, Vesco KK, Haney E, Fu R, Nedrow A, Miller J et al. (2006). "Nonhormonal therapies for menopausal hot flashes: systematic review and meta-analysis.". JAMA 295 (17): 2057-71. DOI:10.1001/jama.295.17.2057. PMID 16670414. Research Blogging. Review in: J Fam Pract. 2006 Aug;55(8):662
  4. Loprinzi CL, Sloan J, Stearns V, Slack R, Iyengar M, Diekmann B et al. (2009). "Newer antidepressants and gabapentin for hot flashes: an individual patient pooled analysis.". J Clin Oncol 27 (17): 2831-7. DOI:10.1200/JCO.2008.19.6253. PMID 19332723. PMC PMC2698018. Research Blogging.
  5. Freeman EW, Guthrie KA, Caan B, Sternfeld B, Cohen LS, Joffe H et al. (2011). "Efficacy of escitalopram for hot flashes in healthy menopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.". JAMA 305 (3): 267-74. DOI:10.1001/jama.2010.2016. PMID 21245182. Research Blogging.
  6. Bachmann GA, Schaefers M, Uddin A, Utian WH (2007). "Lowest effective transdermal 17beta-estradiol dose for relief of hot flushes in postmenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial". Obstet Gynecol 110 (4): 771–9. DOI:10.1097/01.AOG.0000284450.51264.31. PMID 17906008. Research Blogging.