Quantity vs. quality: Long-term use of bone-building osteoporosis drugs — Studies find possible links between prolonged bisphosphonate treatments – Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years.
Study finds increased risk of death, stroke in postmenopausal women taking antidepressants — Findings signal need for individual risk assessment, additional study – Women participating in the Women’s Health Initiative study who reported taking an antidepressant drug had a small but statistically significant increase in the risk of stroke and of death compared with participants not taking antidepressants.
Scientists uncover new key to the puzzle of hormone therapy and breast cancer – The decreased use of postmenopausal hormone therapy has played a key role in the declining rate of atypical ductal hyperplasia, a known risk factor for breast cancer, revealed by researchers.
Regardless of the duration of use, the formulation, estrogen dose, regimen, progestin type, and route of administration, hormone therapy was associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer. – Compared with women who have never taken hormone therapy, those who currently take it or who have taken it in the past are at increased risk of ovarian cancer.
Study may explain why HIV progresses faster in women than in men with same viral load — Pathways related to elevated immune activation could lead to new treatment strategies. – One of the continuing mysteries of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is why women usually develop lower viral levels than men following acute HIV-1 infection but progress faster to AIDS than men with similar viral loads.
Study examines relationship between bone density and erosion in arthritis. – A new study has examined the relationship between two rheumatoid arthritis related processes i.e. focal erosions and osteoporosis, in the hopes of providing insight into the underlying pathophysiology of RA-related bone disease.
Monitoring bone density in older women is unnecessary and potentially misleading — Value of routine monitoring of bone mineral density after starting bisphosphonate treatment. – Monitoring bone mineral density in postmenopausal women taking osteoporosis drugs (bisphosphonates) is unnecessary and potentially misleading, revealed by researchers through a new study published on bmj.com.
Menopause transition may cause trouble learning – The largest study of its kind to date shows that women may not be able to learn as well shortly before menopause compared to other stages in life. The research is published in the May 26, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
HRT-breast cancer risk stays same, regardless of family history – HRT conveys no greater breast cancer risk to women with, versus without, a first-degree family history of breast cancer. – The risk of developing breast cancer due to taking hormone replacement therapy appears to be the same for women with a family history of the disease and without a family history, a University of Rochester Medical Center study concluded.
Hormone therapy offers potential protective effect against colon cancer in older women – In a large study, a national team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic scientists observed that self-reported use of hormone therapy was associated with a significantly lower colorectal cancer risk. However, the mechanisms for the apparent protective association are still unclear.
Moms who breastfeed less likely to develop heart attacks or strokes and cardiovascular disease. – The longer women breastfeed, the lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease, report University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published in the May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Ovarian cancer screening would be feasible in primary care, according to the early results of a major Department of Health, UK funded analysis. – Blood test combined with ultrasound scan can diagnose ovarian cancer (gynecological cancer) early in postmenopausal women, almost 2 years earlier than normal, reported by the British researchers in the Lancet.
