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Sophie Grigoriadis

Publications and source records attributed to Sophie Grigoriadis.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Canadian Consensus Conference on menopause, 2006 update.

OBJECTIVE: To provide guidelines for health care providers on the management of menopause in asymptomatic healthy women as well as in women presenting with vasomotor symptoms, urogenital, sexual, and mood and memory concerns and on specific medical considerations, and cardiovascular and cancer issues. OUTCOMES: Prescription medications, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and lifestyle interventions are presented according to their efficacy in treating menopausal symptoms. EVIDENCE: MEDLINE and the Cochrane database were searched for articles from March 2001 to April 2005 in English on subjects related to menopause, menopausal symptoms, urogenital and sexual health, mood and memory, hormone therapy, CAM, and on specific medical considerations that affect the decision of which intervention to choose. VALUES: The quality of evidence is rated using the criteria described in the report of the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. Recommendations for practice are ranked according to the method described in this report (see Table 1). SPONSORS: The development of this consensus guideline was supported by unrestricted educational grants from Berlex Canada Inc, Lilly Canada, Merck Frosst, Novartis, Novogen, Novo Nordisk, Proctor and Gamble, Schering Canada, and Wyeth Canada.

Affect↗

Measuring the severity of depression and remission in primary care: validation of the HAMD-7 scale.

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic remission is the optimal outcome in depression. A brief, validated tool for symptom measurement that can indicate when remission has occurred in mental health and primary care settings is unavailable. We evaluated a 7-item abbreviated version (HAMD-7) of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) in a randomized controlled clinical trial of patients with major depressive disorder being cared for in primary care settings. METHODS: We enrolled 454 patients across 47 primary care settings who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for a major depressive disorder. Of these, 410 patients requiring antidepressant medication were randomized to have their symptoms rated with either HAMD-7 (n = 205) or HAMD-17 (n = 205) as the primary measurement tool. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who achieved a-priori defined responses to 8 weeks of therapy using each instrument. RESULTS: Of the 205 participants per group, 67% of those evaluated with HAMD-7 were classified as having responded to therapy (defined as a > or = 50% reduction from the pretreatment score), compared with 74% of those evaluated with HAMD-17 (p = 0.43). The difference between the groups' changes in scores from baseline (pretreatment) to endpoint was significant (p < 0.001), without a main effect of group (p = 0.84) or group-by-time (p = 0.83) interaction. The HAMD-7 test was brief to administer (e.g., 3-4 min for 85% of the primary care physicians evaluated), which facilitated the efficient and structured evaluation of salient depressive symptoms. INTERPRETATION: The abbreviated HAMD-7 depression scale is equivalent to the HAMD-17 in assessing remission in patients with a major depressive disorder undergoing drug therapy.

Adult↗

A comparison of antidepressant response in younger and older women.

The objective of this report is to compare antidepressant response rates and tolerability in younger and older women. One hundred fifteen female outpatients who met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder were evaluated before and after 8 weeks of treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, nefazodone, or venlafaxine. The sample was divided into younger and older groups based on age to approximate premenopausal and postmenopausal status. Eighty-six age-matched male outpatients formed the comparison group. Younger women compared with older women had significantly lower Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores after 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment and achieved significant higher rates of remission. There were no differences in overall drug tolerability. This pattern was not replicated in the male patients. Younger women with depression are more responsive to serotonergic antidepressants. This may relate to changes in menstrual status. Limitations of the study and implications for the role of female sex hormones are discussed. Future investigations should include measurement of reproductive hormone levels.

Adult↗

The role of estrogen in schizophrenia: implications for schizophrenia practice guidelines for women.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to integrate what is known about estrogen effects on symptoms and treatment response into a global understanding of schizophrenia. The aim is to expand Canadian schizophrenia guidelines to include the specific needs of women. METHOD: We searched the Medline database; keywords included estrogen, estrogen replacement therapy, schizophrenia, psychosis, treatment, tardive dyskinesia (TD), and women. We examined reference lists from relevant articles to ensure that our review was complete. We review the evidence for the effects of estrogen in schizophrenia and we make recommendations for the next revision of official practice guidelines. RESULTS: The epidemiologic evidence suggests that, relative to men, women show an initial delay in onset age of schizophrenia, with a second onset peak after age 44 years. This points to a protective effect of estrogen, confirming animal research that has documented both neurotrophic and neuromodulatory effects. Clinical research results indicate that symptoms in women frequently vary with the menstrual cycle, worsening during low estrogen phases. Pregnancy is often, though not always, a less symptomatic time for women, but relapses are frequent postpartum. Some work suggests that in the younger age groups women require lower antipsychotic dosages than men but that following menopause they require higher dosages. Estrogen has been used effectively as an adjunctive treatment in women with schizophrenia. Estrogen may also play a preventive role in TD. CONCLUSIONS: Symptom evaluation and diagnosis in women needs to take hormonal status into account. Consideration should be given to cycle-modulated neuroleptic dosing and to careful titration during pregnancy, postpartum, and at menopause. We recommend that discretionary use of newer neuroleptic medication and adjuvant estrogen therapy be considered.

Adult↗

Role of estrogen in the treatment of depression.

The role of estrogen in the treatment of depression is reviewed. The relation is examined in studies of perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with depressed mood, in studies of depressive disorders, and in studies of estrogen as an adjunct to antidepressant medication. The literature has many methodologic shortcomings, including combining women of various ages, failure to confirm life stage, the use of different types of estrogens, the inclusion of women with a range of mood disturbances, and the enrollment of women with concurrent psychiatric illness. There are few controlled evaluations of the use of estrogen to supplement ongoing antidepressant treatment. Estrogen alone seems to be beneficial for improving mood in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Estrogen is superior to placebo for reproductive-related mood disorders, including postpartum depression and mild depressive disorders during perimenopause. Replication is necessary, especially in moderate to severe levels of major depression. Estrogen may augment antidepressant treatment. Assessment and treatment implications are discussed.

Climacteric↗