Posts Tagged "menopause"

Just when you thought it was safe…

Posted by Liz on Feb 13, 2009 in exercise, hot flash | 1 comment

Researchers now say vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats and sleep disturbances, can last more than five years after menopause ends.

Clearly, this has a lot of implications of how we approach therapeutic interventions for hot flashes and other symptoms, as well as for planning ahead.

In this study, which is published on the advanced online edition of the journal Menopause, data were colllected from 438 menstruating women (ages 45-69 years) and then analyzed over a period of 13 years.

The findings showed that the mean duration of hot flashes over the study period was 5.5 years, regardless of whether or not women had ever used hormone replacement therapy. What’s more, study participants started experiencing hot flashes around age 53, and roughly a quarter of them continued to report having symptoms after the 13 year endpoint.

Importantly, the one factor that was associated with a shorter duration of hot flashes was exercise, with more exercise/physical activity associated with shorter symptom duration.

I’ve posted previously about the benefits of exercise and physical activity, which range from positive effects on bone health, sleep and mood to heart health and of course, overall symptoms. This study suggests an even more important reason to keep moving: slowing and perhaps eliminating menopausal symptoms sooner rather than later.

Move your bodies ladies – the evidence is in and it says it’s safe to step back in, one foot at a time.

Poor man’s plastic surgery, and even better!

Posted by Liz on Feb 9, 2009 in breast cancer, exercise | 5 comments

Exercise! Benefits aside, loved this poster! But that’s not the reason for this post.

Not only can exercise help improve mood and keep bones strong during menopause, but it appears that physical activity after menopause may help to lower the risk for breast cancer. Yet another reason to keep moving that body of yours.

German researchers evaluated the health records from 3,414 postmenopausal women who were participating in a study on breast cancer. Physical activity (sports, cycling, walking) was assessed during two periods — ages 30 to 49 and over age 50 — and compared to non-recreational physical activity (occupational, household activities).

Study findings showed that physically active women had a .71 lower odds of developing breast estrogen and progesterone receptor positive breast cancer. A similar effect was not seen on estrogen/progesterone receptor negative cancers.

Notably, these results remained even after the researchers took into account weight gain, body mass index and caloric intake, leading the researchers to conclude that continuing to be active after menopause may help to reduce the risk of developing certain breast cancers. This effect appears to be related to specific hormonal pathways and not body composition.

The study was published in the December 1 issue of Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Strong motivation to keep moving, right?!

More on soy

Posted by Liz on Feb 6, 2009 in colon cancer | 2 comments

I’ve posted several times about the potential effectiveness of soy isoflavones for safely relieving certain symptoms such as hot flashes. You can find those posts here.

Evidence now suggests that the benefits of soy may extend beyond troublesome menopause symptoms.  In fact, it appears that eating soy foods may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer after menopause.

In this study, published in February’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers examined 68,412 women (ages 40 to 70) who were cancer- and diabetes-free at the start of the trial. Information on soy food intake was assessed at the start and then at follow up through in-person interviews and questionnaires.

Over the entire study, 321 colorectal cancer cases were identified. However, after adjusting any factors that might skew the results, the researchers found that:

• Total soy food intake was associated with a lower risk for developing colorectal cancer
• For each 5 gram increase daily in soy foods (~1 oz tofu), there was an 8% reduction in cancer risk
• The association between intake of soy foods and lowered colorectal cancer risk was mostly seen in post-menopausal women

Similar results were also observed for soy protein intake and isoflavones.

These promising findings suggest the potential to not only glean benefit from eating soy-rich foods during menopause but also well beyond menopause. Encouraging news!

Mind over data

Posted by Liz on Feb 2, 2009 in mind-body therapy | 0 comments

Can the positive effects of mind-body medicine truly be measured by Western methodology?  Does the one-size fits all paradigm work?

I stumbled across an extensive, well-designed review of the value of yoga for menopausal symptoms in the online edition of the journal Menopause. While I generally provide a link, the site is having some technical issues so you’ll need to take my word.

Mind-body interventions, e.g., yoga, have been shown to stabilize the nervous system, increase overall sense of well-being and decrease stress. Some data support its use in alleviating menopausal symptoms.  However, Western researchers have not been able to find research that consistently supports these positive effects.

In the present review, researchers were able to identify 7 studies that met their criteria for critically assessing evidence demonstrating whether or not yoga ameliorated symptoms such as mood change, hot flash, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal dryness, decreased libido and  impaired cognitive function, etc.

• 2 trials compared the effects of y0ga to walking or other physical exercise
• 2 trials compared yoga to wait list (guess this means that subjects were on a waiting list for yoga sessions) or no treatment
• The remaining studies were either uncontrolled (meaning that participants are given a treatment and then observed for a specific period of time) or non-randomized (meaning that all participants had the same treatment)

Most of the studies used Iyengar, integrated or restorative yoga, and participants attended yoga sessions anywhere from 2 to 3 times weekly.

Overall, the researchers found that there was not enough evidence to support yoga’s effectiveness in treating menopausal symptoms.

Note that the researchers, in their review (and to their credit), pointed out the following:

• Yoga might be ineffective or studies were not adequately designed or treatment may not have been administered optimally in the particular study setting. Additionally, the study groups may not have been suitable for treating menopausal symptoms.
• There are significant differences in the various forms of yoga, begging the question, can data be sufficiently pooled or compared?

Their overall conclusion? That “the current best evidence is not convincing to suggest that yoga is an effective treatment” for menopausal symptoms. And that “further and better research is required to investigate whether there are specific benefits of yoga for women with menopausal symptoms.”

I applaud these researchers because they recognize the many caveats of applying Western philosophy to alternative interventions. So, the jury’s still out.

Okay Jury…..What do you think? Has yoga helped your symptoms?

Soy-ta interesting….

Posted by Liz on Jan 30, 2009 in herbal medicine | 1 comment

A new study suggests that a key component of an isoflavone found in soy, confers significant improvements in mood-related symptoms in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women who lack the ability to produce this component on their own. The component, which is called S-equol, is involved in the metabolism of an isoflavone known as daidzein.

In this study, which appears  in the online edition of the journal Menopause, researchers randomly and blindly assigned 134 women to daily placebo, 10 mg of equol daily or 10 mg equol three times a day. All study participants also completed questionnaires at the study’s start and after the completion of the study on menopausal symptoms and moods. Additionally, they underwent physical exams and urine testing.

The results showed that women taking equol experienced significant declines in all menopausal mood symptoms except depression (although compared to women who were assigned placebo, the decline in depression was significant).

Overall, women taking equol showed significant declines in tension-anxiety and fatigue, and improvements in vigor scores. No side effects were noted, except for a rash in one woman taking equol.

These data suggest that supplementation with S-equol may help to improve mood-related symptoms in peri- and post-menopausal women. What’s more, the team concluded that equol supplementation may offer a promising alternative to estrogen therapy.

Sorta interesting, right?!