SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “MENOPAUSE”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Women's attitude and perceptions towards menopause in different cultures. Cross-cultural and intra-cultural comparison of pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women in Germany and in Papua New Guinea.

OBJECTIVE: To study cross-cultural and intra-cultural differences between the perception and the experience of menopause in pre-menopausal and post-menopausal German and Papua New Guineas women. DESIGN: Concepts concerning menopause and the experience of the menopause were assessed by the symptom categories (i.e. hot flashes, cardiac or sleeping disorders, depression, irritability, lack of drive, vaginal dryness, painful joints or muscles) according to the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS). In addition to the translated English version, a questionnaire in Pidgin-English was offered. Questions about positive and negative expectations of menopause and the acceptance of hormonal replacement therapy were included. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U-test as indicated. RESULTS: One hundred and one pre-menopausal and 40 post-menopausal women in Germany as well as 36 pre-menopausal and 41 post-menopausal women in Papua New Guinea were questioned. The expectations regarding the menopause differed significantly in favor of a higher trait intensity concerning the item of hot flashes in Germany and a significantly higher trait intensity in the items cardiac trouble, lack of drive, urological symptoms, vaginal dryness, joint and muscle symptoms in Papua New Guinea. In the menopause experience, significant differences between the cultures are confirmed in favor of a higher trait intensity in Papua New Guinea concerning experienced depression, drop in performance, sexual disturbances and vaginal dryness. The intra-cultural comparison between the concepts concerning menopause and the menopause experience in Germany shows a significantly higher trait intensity with regard to the expected disturbance from hot flashes, depression, agitation, lack of drive and sexual problems as compared to the experienced disturbances. In Papua New Guinea, the survey showed a difference in expected and experienced vaginal dryness. CONCLUSIONS: Perception and concepts concerning illness and health are based on culturally produced patterns.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed1998

Women and menopause: beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. The North American Menopause Society 1997 Menopause Survey.

OBJECTIVE: The main purpose in organizing this survey was to collect information relevant to The North American Menopause Society's (NAMS) educational mission and to document women's knowledge of, and attitudes toward, menopause. DESIGN: During June-July 1997, The Gallup Organization conducted 750 telephone interviews with a randomly selected sample of women 45-60 years of age from across the United States. Women were asked about their sources of information on menopause, what changes in health they anticipated as a result of menopause, why they used hormone therapy, and their attitudes toward menopause as a natural or a medical event. RESULTS: Women are more likely to believe that depression and irritability are associated with menopause than heart disease, but only a few associate menopause with an increasing vulnerability to either memory loss or Alzheimer's disease. Relief of physical symptoms of menopause was mentioned as the reason for starting hormone therapy more often than to protect against osteoporosis (25% relative to 15%), or to prevent stroke or a heart attack (10%), or to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (2%). The single main source of women's information on menopause was a health professional (49%). The majority of women who were already menopausal or experiencing menstrual changes expressed an attitude toward menopause that was either neutral (42%) or positive (36%). CONCLUSIONS: Women are divided in their views of menopause, some seeing it as a medical condition requiring medical treatment, whereas others see it as a natural transition to be managed by "natural" means. Providing women with accurate, up-to-date information and enhancing communication between healthcare providers and menopausal women remain the challenges for NAMS.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed1999

The North American Menopause Society 1998 Menopause Survey. Part I: Postmenopausal women's perceptions about menopause and midlife.

OBJECTIVE: To collect information relevant to the mission of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS)--i.e., increasing understanding of menopause--by assessing perceptions held by postmenopausal women in the United States aged 50 to 65 years regarding their menopause transition and early postmenopausal years. DESIGN: During the period from June to July 1998, The Gallup Organization conducted 752 telephone interviews with a randomly selected sample of postmenopausal women aged 50 to 65 years from across the United States, based on questions developed by NAMS. In Part I of this survey, women were asked about their personal experiences with menopause, their health-related lifestyle changes since premenopause, their frequency of discussing menopause, and their rating of preparedness for menopause. Part II of this survey, including use of hormone replacement therapy as well as use of healthcare services, will be reported in a future communication from NAMS. RESULTS: The majority (51%) of the postmenopausal women surveyed reported being happiest and most fulfilled between the ages of 50 to 65 years, compared with when they were in their 20s (10%), 30s (17%), or 40s (16%). Many areas of their lives had improved since menopause, including family/home life, sense of personal fulfillment, ability to focus on hobbies or other interests, relationship with spouse/partner, and friendships. A majority (51%) said their sexual relationships had remained unchanged. Approximately three-quarters of women surveyed reported making some type of health-related lifestyle change, such as stopping smoking, at menopause/midlife. Women who had undergone hysterectomy expressed more improvement than women with an intact uterus, especially in the areas of sexual relationships, spouse/partner relationships, personal fulfillment, and physical health; data are not available regarding the health state of these women before surgery or whether they experienced surgical menopause, but this improvement did not appear to be the result of hormone replacement therapy. Women tended to look to women from their own generation for menopause-related information and believed that they have prepared the younger generation for menopause better than they were prepared by their mothers' generation. Those surveyed advised younger women to engage in healthful activities and become knowledgeable so that they could make informed health decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Although the postmenopausal women surveyed had differing views of menopause as well as their perceptions of postmenopause compared with premenopause, the majority viewed menopause and midlife as the beginning of many positive changes in their lives and health. Hysterectomy was a factor associated with improved sexual relationships, spouse/partner relationships, sense of personal fulfillment, and physical health.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2004

Menopause in Australia and Japan: effects of country of residence on menopausal status and menopausal symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to explore the effects of country of residence on menopausal status and menopausal symptoms in Australian and Japanese women. The study objectives included exploring the impact of country of residence (Australia and Japan) and menopausal status on menopausal symptoms, and identifying whether country of residence (Australia and Japan) moderates the relationship between menopausal status and menopausal symptoms. METHODS: Analyses are based on 1743 women aged between 40 and 60 years who participated in the multi-race, multi-site, cross-sectional study of mid-aged women called the Australian and Japanese Midlife Women's Health Study (AJMWHS) in 2001--2002. Study participants completed a mailed questionnaire that contained questions on a variety of health-related topics. RESULTS: In both cultures there was a similar increase in prevalence of depression (p < 0.001), somatic symptoms (p < 0.001) and vasomotor symptoms (p < 0.001) at perimenopause. Australian women experienced more night sweats than Japanese women but the prevalence of hot flashes was not statistically different. Postmenopausal Japanese women had more somatic, psychological and sexual symptoms. The main effect for menopausal status and the interaction effect of country of residence was significant in the somatic symptoms (p < 0.001), but not in any of the other areas. CONCLUSIONS: Vasomotor, psychological and somatic symptoms decrease after menopause in Australian women, with only sexual symptoms continuing. In Japanese women, somatic, psychological and sexual symptoms remain high after menopause. It is possible that westernization may be having a significant impact on the aging of women in Japan and it is, therefore important to capture through research just what this impact may be.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The dilemma of menopause and hormone replacement--a challenge for women and health-care providers: knowledge of menopause and hormone therapy in Spanish menopausal women.

BACKGROUND: An important goal in menopause research is to develop knowledge and identify interventions that strive to promote, maintain and enhance well-being for women. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge of postmenopausal Spanish women about menopause and their knowledge of and trust in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and to identify their sources of information and how those data are related to compliance with their prescription. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 270 symptomatic postmenopausal women were personally interviewed using a structured questionnaire, which was designed to collect information on their familiarity with medical menopause studies, the menopause and the effects of HRT, their knowledge of alternative therapies, and to identify their sources of information. RESULTS: The most well-known menopausal complaints were hot flushes, sweats, irregular menstruation, cessation of menstruation, irritability and mood changes. Following suggestions of other symptoms by the interviewer, other complaints such as vaginal dryness, insomnia and depression/anxiety were also mentioned. HRT and phytoestrogens were recognized as treatments for the climacteric by most of the women. A woman's decision to seek treatment was initiated in 77% of cases by the gynecologist, in 12% by the general practitioner, in 3% by friends/family and in 3% by books/magazines. The most frequent responses of women to the onset of menopausal symptoms were to talk with their partner (39%), to discuss it with their gynecologist (33%) or with their general practitioner (14%) and to talk with their friends/family or to read books/magazines (10%). CONCLUSIONS: Vasomotor symptoms are recognized as the main complaint during the climacteric and HRT and phytoestrogens as the main therapies. Gynecologists play an important role in assuring compliance with therapies related to the menopause.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Are endometrial polyps from pre-menopausal women similar to post-menopausal women? An immunohistochemical comparison of endometrial polyps from pre- and post-menopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: Do endometrial polyps from pre- and post-menopausal women have similar immunohistochemical expression of oestrogen and progesterone receptors (ER, PR) and markers of cellular proliferation/apoptosis (Ki67 and Bcl-2). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. Non-parametric statistical analysis was used. SETTING: Polyps recruited from women attending an out-patient hysteroscopy clinic in a UK district general hospital. PATIENTS: Fourteen pre-menopausal and 16 post-menopausal women who presented with abnormal bleeding with endometrial polyps. INTERVENTIONS: Immunohistochemical staining was performed on endometrial polyps. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Significant differences or correlations between hormone receptor expression (oestrogen and progesterone) and cell growth indices (Ki67 and Bcl-2). RESULTS: Endometrial polyps from pre- and post-menopausal women had significant differences in their expression of hormone receptors and Ki67. However, polyps from both groups of women had similarly increased levels of Bcl-2, an inhibitor of apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: Pre- and post-menopausal polyps exhibit differing hormone receptor and proliferation markers, presumably a result of their hormonal milieu. However, both groups appear to have lost the usual control mechanisms for apoptotic regulation, this appears to be responsible for their growth.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Decreased bone mineral density associated with early menopause progresses for at least ten years: cross-sectional comparisons between early and normal menopausal women.

To establish whether early onset of menopause carries an increased risk of osteoporosis, we compared the bone mineral density (BMD) of the second to fourth lumbar vertebrae (L2-4) between 18 women who had menopause before 43 years of age (early menopause group) and 19 women who had menopause after reaching 43 years of age (normal menopause group). Serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, calcitonin, intact parathyroid hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E2), and alkaline phosphatase activity were measured, and urine samples were analyzed to derive calcium/creatinine, hydroxyproline/creatinine, pyridinoline/creatinine, and deoxypyridinoline/creatinine (D-Pyr/Cr) ratios. Mean BMD was significantly lower in the early menopause group than in the normal menopause group, and individual BMD values in about half of the subjects in the former group were below the fracture threshold for Japanese women. Serum concentrations of LH, FSH, and E2 were slightly, but not significantly, lower in the early menopause group than in the normal menopause group. The D-Pyr/Cr ratio was significantly higher in the early menopause group than in the normal menopause group. There was no correlation between L2-4 BMD and age or the number of years after menopause in the normal menopause group, but both age and the number of years after menopause were negatively correlated with L2-4 BMD in the early menopause group. These results indicate that BMD in women who have early menopause continues to decline for up to 10 years, and that menopause and aging increase the risk of osteoporosis.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Determinants of age at menopause in women attending menopause clinics in Italy.

OBJECTIVE: We analysed the mean age at menopause and its determinants in 31,000 women attending menopause clinics in Italy. DESIGN: Between 1997 and 2003 we conducted a large cross-sectional study on the characteristics of peri- and post-menopausal women attending a network of first-level outpatient menopause clinics in Italy for general counseling or treatment of menopausal symptoms. Spontaneous menopause was defined as natural cessation of menses for 12 or more months. A total of 31,834 women with spontaneous menopause entered the study. RESULTS: The mean age at spontaneous menopause was 51.2. The age at menopause did not markedly changed with cohort of birth. Higher education was associated with lower age at menopause (51.1 in women with low education versus 51.3 for women with high school or university degree, p<0.05). A higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with later age at menopause. Smokers reported a lower age at menopause (51.2 in nonsmokers versus 51.1 in smokers, p<0.05). A later age at menarche was associated with a later age at menopause. Likewise, lifelong irregular menstrual cycles and higher parity were related with later age at menopause. No association emerged between ever oral contraceptive use and age at menopause. CONCLUSIONS: Low educational level, lower BMI, smoking, early menarche, nulliparity and regular cycles are independently associated with lower age at natural menopause in a large sample of women attending menopause clinics in Italy. However, in absolute terms the effect of these factors in our sample is very small.

Age of Onset↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A historical perspective on menopause and menopausal age.

Earliest known references to menopause have been very scarce. Aristotle referred to age at menopause being 40 years. A French physician coined the term menopause in 1821. Medical interest in menopause increased considerably in mid 19th century. In 1930s people started describing it as a deficiency disease. Consequently, various replenishment therapies were advocated eg. testicular juice, crushed ovaries of animals. In 1970s medicalization of menopause was complete. Menopausal symptoms were ascribed to estrogen deficiency and estrogen (hormone) replacement therapy was exhorted as the ultimate liberation of middle aged women. Synthetic estrogen was developed in 1938. Medical industry (Pharmaceuticals) entered the scenario of menopause in a big way and dominated the center stage. In 1970s International Menopause Society was established. First International Congress on Menopause was also organized in Paris, France in 1976. Various countries have formed national societies on menopause. Symptomatology of menopause differs in different ares of the world e.g In West - hot flush, in Japan shoulder pain and in India low vision are the hallmarks of menopause. HRT use rate is high in West while it is low or negligible in countries like India. Age at menopause is also higher in West as compared to the range of 45-47 years in developing countries like India. Historically also a lower age at menopause was range documented in earlier times. This rose to the range of 50-51 years in the present era.Overall, women in western countries view menopause negatively. This is contrasted with a positive outlook towards menopause in a developing country like India.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Menopausal symptoms and knowledge towards daily life and hormone replacement therapy among menopausal women in Bangkok.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate prevalence and intensity of menopausal symptoms, knowledge towards daily life and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) among natural menopause women in Bangkok. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. MATERIAL AND METHOD: One hundred and sixty two natural menopause women who attended the health seminars or exhibitions except topics about menopause and HRT in Siriraj Hospital from March - June 2005. Targeting women were asked to fill out the structured questionnaires. Data concerning personal history, menopausal symptoms, knowledge of menopause, HRT and daily life in menopause were collected. RESULTS: A total of 148 questionnaires (91.4%) were completed for the analyses. Of 148 women, 141 (95.3%) had menopausal symptoms. The most common and most severe menopausal symptom was muscle and joint pains (84.5% and 23.0%, respectively). The majority of the women understood correctly regarding knowledge about menopause issue and daily life during menopause (80.6% and 89.2%, respectively). Although 51.1% of the women showed their knowledge about HRT correctly, only 8.1% were currently using HRT. The main reasons for this low percentage of HRT use were ability to tolerate the menopausal symptoms (49.0%) and lack of correct knowledge about HRT (48.9%). CONCLUSION: The most common and also the most severe menopausal symptom in natural menopause women was muscle and joint pains. Most of them demonstrated their correct understandings about menopause issue and daily life in menopause and half of them demonstrated their correct understandings about HRT.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

[Studies on the bone metabolisms in either after natural menopause or surgical menopause: implications of IGF-IGFBP system for postmenopausal osteoporosis].

It is well established that accelerated bone loss occurs in association with estrogen deprivation as seen following the natural menopause and in premenopausal women undergoing surgical oophorectomy (i.e., surgical menopause). We have measured serum levels of bone biochemical markers after both natural menopause and surgical menopause. Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), which is considered to be the local regulator of osteoblast activity and one of its binding protein, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) which binds to IGF-I and suppress its biological activity, were also measured. Bone mineral density measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was decreased more rapidly after surgical menopause. A concomitantly higher rate of bone turnover as assessed by bone biochemical markers was observed after surgical menopause, and thus the levels of procollagen type I C-peptide, pyridinoline and deoxypyridinoline were increased. The serum levels of IGF-I were significantly reduced after natural menopause compared with that after surgical menopause. The levels of IGF-I were correlated with bone mineral density after natural menopause (r = 0.62, p < 0.001), but no significant correlation was observed between these two variables after surgical menopause. The binding activity of IGFBP-4 was significantly greater after surgical menopause than after natural menopause. A stronger inverse correlation existed between the binding activity of IGFBP-4 and bone mineral density after surgical menopause (r = -0.90, p < 0.001) compared to that after natural menopause (r = -0.29, p < 0.05). The simplest explanation is that whereas the loss of bone depends upon the decreased level of IGF-I after natural menopause, after surgical menopause it depends upon the increased level of IGFBP-4.

Bone Density↗

PubMed2001

Assignment to menopausal status and estimation of age at menopause for women with missing or invalid data--a probabilistic approach with weighting factors in a large-scale epidemiological study.

OBJECTIVE: Gynaecologic surgeries and hormone medication increasingly interfere with the concept of determining menopausal status based on self-reported data about the last menstrual period-an approach frequently applied in epidemiological studies. This analysis compared different approaches of menopausal status determination, including a probabilistic approach that was developed to reduce misclassification of menopausal status. METHODS: Interview and questionnaire data relating to hormone status from about 16,000 German women were used to determine menopausal status using different approaches: menses based, age based, self-assessment based, and a probabilistic approach. RESULTS: Applying strict menses-based criteria, 29.1% of the women were found to be with undetermined menopausal status. The probabilistic approach was applied to determine menopausal status and age at menopause for these women. The proposed approach uses the current age of the women with undetermined menopausal status, and the relative age-dependent frequencies of pre- or postmenopausal status among those with natural menopausal status to calculate weighting factors, which represent the probabilities of being pre- and postmenopausal of each woman previously undetermined. Correspondingly, the missing age at menopause was estimated with the same probabilistic approach. Applying various approaches to determine menopausal status, the ratio of pre- to postmenopausal women differed considerably, ranging from 1.03 to 1.61. In addition, considerable differences were observed with respect to the number of missing values for both menopausal status and age at menopause. CONCLUSION: The probabilistic approach allowed to estimate menopausal status and age at menopause with the advantage that all available information from the entire study population and from the individual is used.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Menstrual cycle length preceding menopause in relation to age at menopause.

OBJECTIVES: In one of the earlier hypotheses of the etiology of breast cancer (Korenman's 'oestrogen window' hypothesis (1981)), it was assumed that women with a later age at menopause have a longer period with irregular cycles preceding menopause than women with an early menopause. This assumption was tested in a prospective study. METHODS: Subjects were 628 women, born between 1932 and 1941, who had participated in a breast cancer screening project in Utrecht, The Netherlands (the DOM-project) in 1982-1985, and who were still menstruating at that time. The women had filled out a questionnaire and a menstrual calendar every 2 years to determine their age at menopause prospectively. The women had not used oral contraceptives or medicines for menopausal complaints and had reached natural menopause by 1992. The median of the mean menstrual cycle length per woman and the median of the standard deviation of the mean menstrual cycle length per woman were plotted against number of years prior to menopause in three categories of age at menopause (44-49; 50-54; 55-59). RESULTS: During the 9 years prior to menopause, women with a late age at menopause have a somewhat higher mean menstrual cycle length than women with a younger age at menopause (P = 0.0008). Cycle length variability in the 9 years prior to menopause is not statistically significantly different between the three categories of age at menopause (P = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: The assumption that women with a late age at menopause have a longer period with irregular cycles than women with an earlier age at menopause was not corroborated by our results.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Is the measurement of placental protein-14 and CA-125 in plasma and uterine flushings useful in the evaluation of peri-menopausal and post-menopausal bleeding?

In this prospective study, we examined the possible diagnostic value of the measurement of two endometrial proteins, placental protein-14 (PP14) and CA-125, in the evaluation of pre- and post-menopausal bleeding. Concentrations of these two proteins were measured in plasma and uterine flushings obtained from 139 pre- and post-menopausal women with bleeding problems, and 26 normal post-menopausal control women without bleeding. Endometrial biopsy samples were also obtained for histological study. Concentrations of PP14 in both the plasma and uterine flushings in post-menopausal women were significantly lower (P < 0.001) than those of control pre-menopausal women. In post-menopausal women, the concentrations of PP14 (mean +/- SEM) in both plasma and flushing were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in women with endometrial adenocarcinoma (46.9+/-7.5 ng/ml plasma; 3350+/-1711 ng/ml flushing) than in the controls (7.6+/-1.3 ng/ml plasma; 125+/-27 ng/ml flushing) or in women with post-menopausal bleeding and atrophic endometrium (20.4+/-2.1 ng/ml plasma; 453+/-167 ng/ml flushing). In contrast CA-125 concentrations in plasma and flushings were similar in post-menopausal and pre-menopausal women. Plasma concentrations of CA-125 were higher in post-menopausal women with adenocarcinoma (29.1+/-7.4 IU/ml) than in those with post-menopausal bleeding and atrophic endometrium (21.8+/-2 IU/ml) (P < 0.05) or control post-menopausal subjects (16.1+/-2.1 IU/ml) (P < 0.01). CA-125 concentrations in uterine flushings were not significantly different in any group of post-menopausal women. The results show that concentrations of PP14 are correlated more strongly to endometrial histopathology than those of CA-125 in pre- and post-menopausal women. Elevated PP14 concentrations are also associated with the presence of endometrial adenocarcinoma and may have a potential to be used as a marker for this disease.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed2003

Increased risk of early menopausal transition and natural menopause after poor response at first IVF treatment.

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to examine whether women who had a low number of retrieved oocytes at their first IVF attempt reach the menopausal transition and/or the natural menopause earlier than women of similar ages with a high number of retrieved oocytes. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study among women in The Netherlands who received IVF treatment between 1983 and 1995. For the present study, we selected all cohort members who had a regular menstrual cycle at the time of the first visit to the gynaecologist (n = 4601). After a median follow-up of 5.5 years, 3871 (84%) women still had a regular menstrual cycle pattern, 547 (12%) women had entered the menopausal transition (i.e. no menses for 3-11 months, use of HRT or irregular menstrual cycles) and 27 (1%) women had reached natural menopause. We examined whether the quantity and the quality of the retrieved oocytes were related to an early menopausal transition and early menopause. The live birth rate per embryo transfer was used as indicative of the quality of the oocytes. RESULTS: The age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having entered the menopausal transition/natural menopause for women with a poor response (0-3 oocytes) at their first IVF attempt was 3.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.4-3.8] compared with women with a normal response (>3 oocytes). Women who were stimulated with gonadotrophins during IVF treatment but did not undergo an IVF puncture because of an anticipated poor response (cancelled IVF cycle) had an age-adjusted OR of 3.2 (95% CI 2.3-4.3). There was no significant difference in the odds of reaching the menopausal transition/natural menopause, after adjustment for age and the number or retrieved oocytes, between women who did and did not have a live birth following their first embryo transfer (OR = 1.3; 95% CI 0.95-1.7). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that a low remaining quantity of oocytes, as reflected by a low number of retrieved oocytes at first IVF treatment, is an important predictor of the risk of an early menopausal transition/natural menopause. The quality of the oocytes did not affect the risk of an early menopausal transition/natural menopause once the number of retrieved oocytes had been taken into account. Our findings support the concept that the number of remaining follicles in the ovaries is one of the main aspects of reproductive ageing.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Changes in Australian women's perception of the menopause and menopausal symptoms before and after the climacteric.

The symptoms and perceptions of menopause of 60 Australian women were studied, by questionnaire, when they were premenopausal and 10 years later when they were postmenopausal. Menopausal symptoms expected and experienced by the women were compared, fewer women experiencing hot flushes, headache, depression and nervousness and more experiencing insomnia, increase in appetite, abdominal fullness, numbness and muscular problems. The symptoms women thought were due to hormonal changes at menopause were compared. In 1993 more women cited osteoporosis, insomnia, loss of libido, obesity and loss of muscle tone as due to hormone change while fewer cited depression. The premenstrual symptoms and their severity experienced by a woman when she was premenopausal significantly predicts the type and severity of the menopausal symptoms experienced by the woman. The expected menopausal symptoms and their severity cited by a woman also significantly predicts the type of severity of the menopausal symptoms experienced. More premenstrual symptoms predict the menopausal symptoms than those menopausal symptoms the women expected. The expectation menopause will be 'a relief' or 'a nuisance' significantly predicted the overall menopause experience described by the women. Their negative attitudes about doctors' understanding and information available about menopause remained unchanged but they forget menstrual cycle problems over the 10 years. The results suggest a possible physiological basis for premenstrual and menopausal symptoms. Assistance for women with their premenstrual and menstrual cycle symptoms may improve their quality of life at menopause.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Age, menopausal status and homocysteine levels in women around menopause.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain data on the relation between age, menopause and homocysteine levels in women around menopause, we collected data for a sample of about 500 women attending a menopause clinic in Milan, Italy. STUDY DESIGN: Eligible for the study were all women aged 45-75 years, never HRT users consecutively observed for the first time at the Menopause Center of the 1st Obstetric Gynecological Clinic of the University of Milan. Fasting blood samples for total homocysteine plasma levels were collected during the visit. Of the 490 study subjects, 107 were pre-menopausal and 383 post-menopausal. RESULTS: In the total series, the mean homocysteine level was 8.3 micromol/L (S.D. 3.7, range 3.2-48.8). The values increased from 7.8 micromol/L in women aged <47 years to 9.0 micromol/L in those aged >59. Among pre-menopausal women the mean homocysteine level was 7.7 micromol/L compared to 8.3 micromol/L in post-menopausal women: this difference disappeared on the adjusted values. In post-menopausal women only, no clear relationship emerged between years since menopause and homocysteine levels. CONCLUSION: In our population, age, and not menopausal status, was the main determinant of homocysteine levels in women around menopause.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The age of menopause and the menopause transition in a multiracial population: a nation-wide Singapore study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of menopausal symptoms, define the mean age of menopause, and determine contributory factors, which influence the experience of symptoms among Singaporean women of different racial groups. DESIGN: Cross-sectional nation-wide study of a random sample of 1000 women drawn from the entire population of Singaporean female (Chinese, Malay, and Indian) citizens between 45 and 60 years of age. Face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires were conducted. RESULTS: The response rate was 69.9%. The mean age of natural menopause was 49.0 years. This was not significantly different between the three ethnic groups. Increasing parity delayed the age of menopause (P=0.007). Muscle and joint ache was the most commonly reported symptom (52.6%). Although the prevalence of significant hot flushes in the general study population was low (3.9%), it was the most commonly reported complaint by peri-menopausal women (14.6%). Prevalence of significant hot flushes decreased with time from menopause (P=0.007) and completely disappeared beyond the fifth year of menopause. Recent unhappy events were associated with an increased risk of symptoms (P<0.001). Women of Chinese origin experienced a lower risk of menopausal symptoms when compared with other ethnic groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The mean age of menopause was 49.0 years among Singaporean women. Ethnicity and recent unhappy events were two major factors, which influenced the risk of experiencing menopausal symptoms. Among the three ethnic groups studied, Chinese women were the least likely to experience disturbing menopausal symptoms. The overall prevalence of menopausal symptoms was low when compared to studies on women in western societies.

Adult↗