Biomedical subjects

T Vihtamäki

Publications and source records attributed to T Vihtamäki.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Why do postmenopausal women discontinue hormone replacement therapy?

OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence and acceptance of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the Finnish population and to ascertain the factors leading to premature discontinuation of HRT. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted among all women aged 50-60 selected from the age-sex register, 1065 women were identified and 884 (response rate 84%) agreed to participate. RESULTS: 111 women were premenopausal and 773 postmenopausal; 302 (39%) were current HRT users, 126 (16%) previous users and 345 (45%) non-users. Of the previous users 27% had used oestrogen for less than 6 months and 46% had ceased treatment within 1 year. The main reason for discontinuation was side-effects; 41% of the women had suffered from them. Fear of cancer (16%), recommendation of a physician (12%), inefficiency (4%), and advice of a friend (3%) were other causes of discontinuation. Of the current users, 20% had continuous side-effects from the treatment and 15% had been advised to discontinue the treatment. Eleven percent of current users and 11% of previous users reported not having received any information about HRT. CONCLUSIONS: in this survey, more than half of postmenopausal women had used HRT at menopause. Every third of the women had discontinued the treatment, mainly because of side-effects but also because of fear of cancer and advice of physicians.

Climacteric↗

PubMed1998

Can climacteric women self-adjust therapeutic estrogen doses using symptoms as markers?

OBJECTIVES: To investigate if disappearance of climacteric symptoms during hormone replacement therapy (HRT) also means good therapeutic level of serum estradiol. The study group comprised of 32 postmenopausal women who had frequent climacteric symptoms. METHODS: The women increased the daily treatment doses of percutaneous estradiol every 2 weeks until they felt comfortable with it. Each woman continued at that treatment dose for up to 3 months. Blood samples for estradiol assay were drawn at baseline, every time before the estradiol dosage was increased and at the end of the study. Climacteric symptoms were scored according to the Kupperman menopausal index. RESULTS: Despite the relief of climacteric symptoms, serum estradiol concentration was at a menopausal level (< 50 pg/ml) in 22% of the women. In all, 45% of the subjects showed serum estradiol remaining under 60 pg/ml, 29% of the women showed levels of 60-100 pg/ml and 26% showed serum estradiol concentration more than 100 pg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: The disappearance of climacteric symptoms during HRT does not guarantee that estrogen levels are sufficiently high for obtaining long term benefits of HRT.

Administration, Cutaneous↗

PubMed1996

Individual hormone replacement therapy.

Although hormone replacement therapy is widely used in western countries, compliance is not very good; only a minor proportion of women starting the treatment continue it for over 5 years. However, long-term treatment is essential for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. One reason for low compliance is that treatment is not planned individually. After using a fixed estradiol dose, serum levels of estradiol show 10-fold differences between subjects, independently of the routes of administration. This article briefly summarizes the possibility of using tailored treatment and thus improving long-term compliance with HRT.

Administration, Cutaneous↗