Category Archives: Research Findings

Do Commonly Used Botanical Therapies Really Work for Hot Flashes?

A recent pair of studies has concluded that Black Cohosh and Red Clover (shown in photo), commonly used by women to alleviate hot flashes, are safe to take — that is, they don’t have a negative impact on breast and uterine health. That’s the good news.  The bad news?  Neither botanical treatment worked as well as a placebo in reducing the number of hot flashes and night sweats that the research participants experienced daily over a 12 month period.   What did work was the hormone therapy used in the study – in this case Prempro, a conjugated hormone product made by Wyeth. … [Read more]

Hot Flashes Can Last HOW Long?????

Some women are just plain lucky. They sail through Menopause without a minute of discomfort.  I put them in the same category as super-models.  They’re freaks of nature.  The fact is that most menopausal women experience hot flashes and/or night sweats and they can range from mildly disruptive to downright debilitating.   Hormone therapy will help with the hot flashes (vasomotor symptoms as they are called), but current guidelines recommend that it be taken at the lowest effective dose for the shortest period of time.   So,  in making the decision to take HT, wouldn’t it be a lot easier if women knew how long their hot flashes would last?

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The Effect of Poor Sleep Quality on Blood Pressure

Sleep disturbances, weight gain and creeping blood pressure are common complaints of women in mid-life.  I’ve learned through experience and research that there’s  a connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain as well as between weight gain and high blood pressure. Now, a new study, published just last week, is making a direct connection between sleep duration and blood pressure.  It concluded that “early middle-aged adults who sleep fewer hours appear more likely to have high blood pressure and to experience adverse changes in blood pressure over time.” … [Read more]

Hormones, Heartburn and… Hip Fractures?

After writing about the possible connection between hormones and heartburn (or gastric reflux) earlier this week, I discovered another research report, involving nearly 40,000 patients, that concluded that even short-term use of popular acid-reducing drugs such as Prevacid, Zantac and Tagament may raise the risk of hip fractures. The increased risks appeared two years after patients started taking prescription or over-the-counter anti-reflux medications. Other brands in this category of drugs include; Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix and Aciphex.

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Add Heartburn to the List of Estrogen’s Risks

If TV commercials for pharmaceuticals are a true reflection of what ails our population, then I have to conclude that a good percentage of people – men and women – suffer from Gerd, often called acid reflux or heartburn.   It has been commonly believed that lifestyle factors such as BMI (body mass index), diet, smoking status, alcohol consumption and the use of certain medications are the culprits.  But recent research has shown that if a post-menopausal women is complaining of Gerd-like symptoms, it’s very possible that her use of hormone therapies, or raloxifene (prescribed for osteoporosis prevention) or even over-the-counter soy estrogen products are to blame. … [Read more]

Your Brain’s RAM and Processing Speed ARE Impacted by Hormonal Changes During the Menopause Transition

Your claims of brain fog, senior moments, or whatever you want to call the small but frequent memory lapses you experience during the menopause transition are real, according to the findings of a new study just published in Neurology journal.

Researchers spent four years investigating the effects of the menopause transition and hormone use on three areas of cognitive function; processing speed, verbal memory and working memory.  They concluded that mid-life women, particularly those in the late-perimenopause stage (they haven’t have a period in three to 11 months) were not able to learn as well as they had during pre-menopause.  The good news is that their test scores eventually improved and rebounded to pre-menopause levels once they hit post-menopause (no period for 12 months), indicating that “menopause related cognitive difficulties may be time-limited.” … [Read more]

Ten Reasons Why Americans Are Overweight

The latest John Hopkins “health alert” reminds us of a study not too long ago that highlighted ten alternative reasons why most adults in this country are overweight. They go beyond calorie counting and less exercise and they may apply to you.  Here they are:

1. Less sleep - we’ve gone from an average of nine to seven hours of sleep a night. Sleep deprivation is linked to a more robust appetite.
2. Pesticides and other chemicals in foods- These substances can change hormonal activity, which can boost body fat.
3. Air conditioning and heating – we don’t sweat and shiver as much as our ancestors, so we don’t burn as many calories. … [Read more]

A New Non-Hormonal Treatment for Hot Flashes? Not So Fast…

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There’s a Connection Between Obesity and Incontinence

In January, I wrote about the connection between menopause and incontinence and interviewed a physician who specializes in urogynecology about the factors that contribute to incontinence in women.  She attributed the problem in part to weight gain that naturally comes with aging.  The findings of a new study published in the current e-newsletter of the North American Menopause Society supports this. The study investigated obesity as a risk factor for both stress and urge incontinence and the researchers concluded that the higher the BMI (body mass index), the greater the odds of incontinence.  Why does this happen? Here’s their explanation:

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Want to Lose Weight? Just Eat Less!

Researchers at Harvard have confirmed what we’ve really known all along. If you want to lose weight, eat less! That’s it.  Exercise helps too.  You can pick any diet – Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig,  Zone, South Beach, or Atkins.  It doesn’t matter because, as the researchers concluded, any diet that reduces your caloric intake will work.

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