Menopausal Symptoms and Postmenopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy - Related Resources

Cochrane reviews

• Acupuncture may not be effective for menopausal vasomotor symptoms compared to sham acupuncture and may be less effective than hormone therapy Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flushes.
• Hormone treatment with estrogens alone or in combination with progestogens appears to be effective for improving sexual function in women with menopausal symptoms or in early postmenopause (within five years of amenorrhoea) compared with placebo Hormone Therapy for Sexual Function in Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women.
• Black cohosh is probably not effective for menopausal symptoms compared with placebo or hormone therapy Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga Spp.) for Menopausal Symptoms.
• Exercisemay be effective for vasomotor menopausal symptoms Exercise for Vasomotor Menopausal Symptoms.
• Phytoestrogens may not to be effective for vasomotor menopausal symptoms compared to placebo Phytoestrogens for Vasomotor Menopausal Symptoms.
• Bioidentical hormone 17 beta-estradiol in various forms may be effective for moderate to severe menopausal hot flushes compared to placeboBioidentical Hormones for Women with Postmenopausal Vasomotor Symptoms.

Other evidence summaries

• Bone mineral density may decline rapidly after discontinuation of hormone replacement therapy, but not below the level in the placebo group .

• Conjugated equine estrogen alone appears to increase the risk of stroke, decrease the risk of hip fracture, but does not affect the risk of coronary heart disease or breast cancer in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Breast Cancer.

• Oestrogens alone are effective for postmenopausal vasomotor symptoms already at very low doses, and also for urogenital symptoms Transdermal Oestrogens Alone for Postmenopausal Symptoms.

Clinical guidelines

• Terapêutica Hormonal de Substituição Pós-Menopausa

Literature

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• Gallagher JC, Levine JP. Preventing osteoporosis in symptomatic postmenopausal women. Menopause 2011;18(1):109-18. [PubMed]
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• Cauley JA, Seeley DG, Ensrud K, Ettinger B, Black D, Cummings SR. Estrogen replacement therapy and fractures in older women. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Ann Intern Med 1995 Jan 1;122(1):9-16 [PubMed]
• Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: collaborative reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies of 52,705 women with breast cancer and 108,411 women without breast cancer. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Lancet 1997 Oct 11;350(9084):1047-59 [PubMed]
• Grady D, Gebretsadik T, Kerlikowske K, Ernster V, Petitti D. Hormone replacement therapy and endometrial cancer risk: a meta-analysis. Obst Gynecol 1995;85:304-313[DARE]
• Pickar JH, Thorneycroft I, Ehitehead M. Effects of hormone replacement therapy on the endometrium and lipid parameters: a review of randomized clinical trials, 1985 to 1995. Am J Obst Gyn 1998;178:1087-1099[DARE]
• Rossouw JE, Anderson GL, Prentice RL, LaCroix AZ, Kooperberg C, Stefanick ML, Jackson RD, Beresford SA, Howard BV, Johnson KC, Kotchen JM, Ockene J, Writing Group for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results From the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2002 Jul 17;288(3):321-33 [PubMed]
• Roberts H. Managing the menopause. BMJ 2007 Apr 7;334(7596):736-41 [PubMed]
• Cushman M, Kuller LH, Prentice R, Rodabough RJ, Psaty BM, Stafford RS, Sidney S, Rosendaal FR, Women's Health Initiative Investigators. Estrogen plus progestin and risk of venous thrombosis. JAMA 2004 Oct 6;292(13):1573-80 [PubMed]
• Grodstein F, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Rexrode K. Postmenopausal hormone therapy and stroke: role of time since menopause and age at initiation of hormone therapy. Arch Intern Med 2008 Apr 28;168(8):861-6 [PubMed]
• Heiss G, Wallace R, Anderson GL, Aragaki A, Beresford SA, Brzyski R, Chlebowski RT, Gass M, LaCroix A, Manson JE, Prentice RL, Rossouw J, Stefanick ML, WHI Investigators. Health risks and benefits 3 years after stopping randomized treatment with estrogen and progestin. JAMA 2008 Mar 5;299(9):1036-45 [PubMed]
• Nedrow A, Miller J, Walker M, Nygren P, Huffman LH, Nelson HD. Complementary and alternative therapies for the management of menopause-related symptoms: a systematic evidence review. Arch Intern Med 2006 Jul 24;166(14):1453-65 [PubMed]
• Nelson HD. Menopause. Lancet 2008 Mar 1;371(9614):760-70 [PubMed]
• Rossouw JE, Anderson GL, Prentice RL, LaCroix AZ, Kooperberg C, Stefanick ML, Jackson RD, Beresford SA, Howard BV, Johnson KC, Kotchen JM, Ockene J, Writing Group for the Women's Health Initiative Investigators. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results From the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2002 Jul 17;288(3):321-33 [PubMed]
• Shumaker SA, Legault C, Kuller L, Rapp SR, Thal L, Lane DS, Fillit H, Stefanick ML, Hendrix SL, Lewis CE, Masaki K, Coker LH, Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. Conjugated equine estrogens and incidence of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. JAMA 2004 Jun 23;291(24):2947-58 [PubMed]