-
International Journal of Women's Health 2023Understanding the role of both menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) along with non-hormonal options for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms, sleep disruption, and... (Review)
Review
Understanding the role of both menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) along with non-hormonal options for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms, sleep disruption, and genitourinary symptoms after menopause is critical to the health of women during middle and later life. Recent updates to the evidence for the treatment of menopausal symptoms pertaining to both hormonal and non-hormonal therapies as well as updated guidance from specialty societies can help guide clinicians in their treatment of women going through natural menopause or with estrogen deficiencies due to primary ovarian insufficiency or induced menopause from surgery or medications. The objective of this narrative review is to provide clinicians with an overview of MHT for the use of menopausal symptoms in women, incorporating updated primary evidence for risk versus benefit profiles, recent specialty society recommendations, and alternative, non-hormonal options. In this review, we summarize literature on the use of MHT for menopause-related symptomatology including options for formulations and dosages of MHT, non-hormonal treatment options, and the risk-benefit profile of MHT including long-term health consequences (eg, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, venous thromboembolism, and fracture risk). Finally, we highlight areas in which future research is needed to advance care of women after menopause. In summary, both hormonal (MHT) and non-hormonal options exist to treat symptoms of menopause. There is strong evidence for safety and effectiveness of MHT for the treatment of vasomotor symptoms among women who are less than 60 years of age, less than 10 years since menopause, and without significant cardiometabolic comorbidities. For others, treatment with hormonal versus non-hormonal therapies can be considered based on individual risk profiles, as well as other factors such as drug formulation, therapeutic goals, and symptom severity.
PubMed: 37255734
DOI: 10.2147/IJWH.S379808 -
Case Reports in Women's Health Jun 2023
PubMed: 37440764
DOI: 10.1016/j.crwh.2023.e00503 -
Gynecological Endocrinology : the... Dec 2024Obesity is not a choice or a result of lack of willpower, but a multifactorial, chronic, progressive, and relapsing disease. During menopause, hormonal and body... (Review)
Review
Obesity is not a choice or a result of lack of willpower, but a multifactorial, chronic, progressive, and relapsing disease. During menopause, hormonal and body composition changes lead to greater visceral adiposity, that aggravates women's health at a cardiometabolic, mechanic and mental level. Adiposity has been identified as an important modifier of reproductive hormones. During female midlife, obesity has been associated with menstrual cycle alterations (anovulatory cycles ending with abnormal bleedings), menopausal symptoms including hot flashes, poor quality of sleep, aches and joint pain, genitourinary symptoms, and reduced quality of life. However, the relationships between weight, the menopausal process, aging, and hormone levels remain poorly understood. Women with obesity have an increased risk of thromboembolic disease when using menopause hormone therapy (MHT), and it is probably the main medical condition to prescribe or not MHT. However, this risk depends on the route and type of MHT. The use of estrogen-only or combined transdermal MHT does not increase the risk of a thrombotic event in women with obesity.
Topics: Female; Humans; Quality of Life; Menopause; Women's Health; Hot Flashes; Obesity; Estrogen Replacement Therapy
PubMed: 38343134
DOI: 10.1080/09513590.2024.2312885 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2024
Topics: Humans; Mental Health; Female; Public Health; Science
PubMed: 38660362
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1403838 -
Frontiers in Medicine 2023Hormone-based contraception disrupts hormonal balance, creating artificial states of anovulation and threatening women's health. We reviewed its main adverse effects and... (Review)
Review
Hormone-based contraception disrupts hormonal balance, creating artificial states of anovulation and threatening women's health. We reviewed its main adverse effects and mechanisms on accelerated ovarian aging, mental health (emotional disruptions, depression, and suicide), sexuality (reduced libido), cardiovascular (brain stroke, myocardial infarction, hypertension, and thrombosis), and oncological (breast, cervical, and endometrial cancers). Other "collateral damage" includes negative effects on communication, scientific mistrust, poor physician-patient relationships, increased patient burden, economic drain on the healthcare system, and environmental pollution. Hormone-sensitive tumors present a dilemma owing to their potential dual effects: preventing some cancers vs. higher risk for others remains controversial, with denial or dismissal as non-relevant adverse effects, information avoidance, and modification of scientific criteria. This lack of clinical assessment poses challenges to women's health and their right to autonomy. Overcoming these challenges requires an anthropological integration of sexuality, as the focus on genital bodily union alone fails to encompass the intimate relational expression of individuals, complete sexual satisfaction, and the intertwined feelings of trust, safety, tenderness, and endorsement of women's femininity.
PubMed: 37457571
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1167504 -
Revista Da Associacao Medica Brasileira... 2023
Topics: Female; Humans; Women's Health
PubMed: 37556646
DOI: 10.1590/1806-9282.2023S127 -
Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science Aug 2023The intersection of women's health and data science is a field of research that has historically trailed other fields, but more recently it has gained momentum. This... (Review)
Review
The intersection of women's health and data science is a field of research that has historically trailed other fields, but more recently it has gained momentum. This growth is being driven not only by new investigators who are moving into this area but also by the significant opportunities that have emerged in new methodologies, resources, and technologies in data science. Here, we describe some of the resources and methods being used by women's health researchers today to meet challenges in biomedical data science. We also describe the opportunities and limitations of applying these approaches to advance women's health outcomes and the future of the field, with emphasis on repurposing existing methodologies for women's health.
Topics: Female; Humans; Data Science; Women's Health; Forecasting
PubMed: 37040736
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biodatasci-020722-105958 -
Nutrients Jan 2024Since the rise of awareness of gluten/wheat-related disorders in the academic and clinical field in the last few decades, misinformation regarding the gluten-free diet... (Review)
Review
Since the rise of awareness of gluten/wheat-related disorders in the academic and clinical field in the last few decades, misinformation regarding the gluten-free diet (GFD) and its impact on health has been spreading among the general population. Despite the established link between gluten and celiac disease (CD), where a GFD is mandatory to reach clinical and histological remission, things are more complicated when it comes to non-celiac gluten/wheat sensitivity (NCGWS) and other autoimmune/dysimmune disorders. In the last conditions, a beneficial effect of gluten withdrawal has not been properly assessed, but still is often suggested without strong supporting evidence. In this context, women have always been exposed, more than men, to higher social pressure related to nutritional behaviors and greater engagement in controlling body weight. With this narrative review, we aim to summarize current evidence on the adherence to a GFD, with particular attention to the impact on women's health.
Topics: Male; Humans; Female; Glutens; Celiac Disease; Diet, Gluten-Free; Body Weight; Women's Health
PubMed: 38276560
DOI: 10.3390/nu16020322 -
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health... Oct 2023Although increased attention has been placed on the potential deleterious consequences of paternal incarceration on maternal health, little empirical research has...
BACKGROUND
Although increased attention has been placed on the potential deleterious consequences of paternal incarceration on maternal health, little empirical research has attempted to understand the physiological processes that might underlie this relationship. Moreover, exposure to incarceration and access to resources that shape family incarceration patterns are unequally distributed across racial and ethnic lines, yet few studies utilize analytic frameworks that account for this social reality. Using a within race/ethnicity analytic framework, the present study addresses these gaps by examining relationships between paternal incarceration and telomere length for Black, Latina/o, and White mothers.
METHODS
Data were drawn from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal, stratified multistage probability sample of couples and children in 20 large U.S. cities. The final analytic sample consisted of 2174 mothers that were followed from pregnancy to age 9 of the focal child.
RESULTS
Findings revealed exposure to paternal incarceration was negatively associated with telomere length for Black mothers, but not for Latina/o and White mothers. Mediation analysis also showed paternal incarceration-telomere length relationships did not operate through secondary stressors, such as economic instability, poor mental health, and parenting stress.
CONCLUSION
Overall, results demonstrated that the detrimental physiological consequences of paternal incarceration for mothers depended on racial and ethnic background. Findings from this study can provide a foundation upon which health scholars and criminal justice stakeholders may better understand whether and how paternal incarceration shapes deleterious health patterns for the mothers who remain to care for the children of those incarcerated.
Topics: Male; Child; Female; Pregnancy; Humans; Ethnicity; Maternal Health; Fathers; Mothers; Mental Health
PubMed: 35969324
DOI: 10.1007/s40615-022-01388-2 -
Frontiers in Global Women's Health 2023
PubMed: 37284278
DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2023.1190974