A negative view of menopause: does the type of symptom matter?

Ascorbic acid intake is inversely associated with prevalence of depressive symptoms in US midlife women: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

With the endocrine changes in menopausal transition period, associations between dietary ascorbic acid intake and depressive symptoms may be different. This investigation examined cross-sectional relations between dietary ascorbic acid intake of women and prevalence of depressive symptoms.

METHODS

This is a secondary analysis performed on a subsample of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Women enrolled had measures of CES-D depression scores and ascorbic acid intake. Regression models were used to study cross-sectional associations between ascorbic acid intake and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

A total of 3088 women aged 42-52 years at baseline were included in the present study. Dietary ascorbic acid intake was inversely associated with depressive symptoms. The adjusted OR and 95% CI of depressive symptoms was 0.699 (0.524 - 0.934) in quartile 4 (the highest) versus quartile 1 (the lowest) of the ascorbic acid intake. Restricted cubic spline analyze showed a suggestion of L-shaped associations between ascorbic acid intake and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Ascorbic acid intake is inversely associated with prevalence of depressive symptoms in midlife women. Future prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Identification of Symptom Clusters Among Midlife Menopausal Women with Metabolic Syndrome

The aim of this study was to identify and compare symptom clusters in midlife menopausal women with and without metabolic syndrome based on symptom occurrence and severity dimension through secondary data analysis of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. Exploratory factor analysis was used to group symptoms that are highly correlated with each other and verified by confirmatory factor analysis. Midlife menopausal women with metabolic syndrome (n = 424) experienced mental health, vasomotor, and somatic cluster across both symptom dimensions. In contrast, midlife menopausal women without metabolic syndrome (n = 1022) experienced mental health/sleep/urinary, vasomotor, and somatic cluster for symptom occurrence dimension and mental health/sleep, vasomotor/genital, and somatic cluster for symptom severity dimension. This is the first study to identify symptom clusters in midlife menopausal women with metabolic syndrome, who are at risk for experiencing complex symptoms associated with menopause transition and metabolic syndrome, and to compare symptom clusters to those without metabolic syndrome.

What women think about menopause: An Italian survey

INTRODUCTION

Menopause is a critical period for most women who experience associated symptoms while they are still socially and individually active.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to report how Italian women perceive and approach menopause.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A survey of 1028 Italian women aged 45-65 years was conducted by the Italian Center for Studies of Social Investments (CENSIS) through anonymous interviews using two methods: CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing) and CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing).

PRINCIPAL OUTCOME MEASURES

Principal outcome measures were women's perceptions and experiences of menopause and its treatments.

RESULTS

The global consciousness and understanding of menopause was common (82.8 %) among Italian women and it was usually considered a physiological condition (77 %). Overall, 74.6 % of the sample were postmenopausal. Hot flushes were reported to be the most frequent (37.9 %) and bothersome symptoms (43.1 %) while 12.9 % of the women were asymptomatic. As for menopausal therapies, 24.5 % were on treatment; herbal medications were the most common remedy (63.3 %) whereas 7.6 % of the women took hormone replacement therapy (HRT). About half of the sample (50.4 %) had not sought help from the Italian National Health System (INHS). Medical expertise in the field of menopause was thought to be moderately satisfactory by 54.5 % of the sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Italian women consider menopause a physiological condition. Most postmenopausal women had experienced symptoms but relied on non-hormonal treatments. The median women's satisfaction with the role of the INHS and medical competence suggests the need to improve current knowledge and awareness concerning menopause.

A Review of Breast Pain: Causes, Imaging Recommendations, and Treatment

Over two-thirds of women will experience breast pain in their lifetime. As one of the leading breast symptoms for which women seek medical attention, breast pain is suspected to be underreported and under-studied. Cyclical breast pain is related to hormonal changes. Noncyclical breast pain is independent of the menstrual cycle and can be idiopathic and related to chronic pain syndromes, infections, ill-fitting bras, musculoskeletal abnormalities, pregnancy, perimenopause, and postsurgical causes. Breast pain can also present in transgender patients and may require additional considerations as to the underlying cause. Imaging of mastalgia depends upon the suspected etiology. Inappropriate imaging for breast pain is associated with significant utilization of health care resources. Cyclical breast pain does not require an imaging work-up. The work-up of focal, noncyclical breast pain includes ultrasound for women aged younger than 40 years, and mammography and ultrasound for women aged 40 years and older. Management of breast pain is often supportive, as most breast pain resolves spontaneously. If pain persists, imaging and management should follow a step-wise approach. If conservative measures fail, second-line therapy is topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. If breast pain is severe and resistant to conservative methods, additional third-line therapies can be added by breast care specialists with specific knowledge of the potential deleterious side effects of these medications. While the causes of mastalgia are overwhelmingly benign, breast pain can significantly impact quality of life, and the breast radiologist should be familiar with causes, management, and treatment recommendations from a multidisciplinary approach.

Self-regulation model applied to menopause: a mixed-methods study

Objectives: Considering that bio-psycho-sociocultural variables influence menopause, this research aimed to assess the suitability of the self-regulation model in explaining the menopausal experience, and to explore differences among participants with different characteristics (e.g. health, sexual related) regarding menopause representations.Methods: Overall, 27 Portuguese women aged 40-65 years were assessed for sociodemographics, health, and sexual activity, as well as menopausal status and symptoms. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted. A directed content analysis was performed, and the qualitative data presented. Afterward, the frequencies of the categories were analyzed through quantitative methods (Mann-Whitney U tests).Results: Aging was the most frequently mentioned feature regarding menopause Identity, whereas vasomotor symptoms were the most mentioned regarding Negative Consequences and menses cessation regarding Positive Consequences. Features related to Cause (hormonal changes) and Control (need for acceptance) of menopause were also identified. No differences were found in the frequency of menopause representations between women with different characteristics (e.g. with higher vs. lower vasomotor symptom severity).Conclusion: The suitability of the self-regulation model to explain these women's menopause experience was confirmed and the representations did not vary among participants with different characteristics. This research might help professionals and researchers in developing comprehensive interventions, based on this theoretical model.

"Is it menopause or bipolar?": a qualitative study of the experience of menopause for women with bipolar disorder

Background

Menopause can be a time of change for women and may be marked by disturbances in mood. For women living with a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, little is known about how they experience mood changes during menopause. This study aimed to explore how women with bipolar disorder constructed mood changes during menopause and how this impacted on treatment decisions.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with fifteen women who reported they had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Data was analysed using thematic analysis guided by a social constructionist framework.

Results

Themes identified included ‘Constructions of mood change: menopause or bipolar disorder?’,‘ Life events, bipolar disorder and menopause coming together’; ‘Treatment choices for mood change during menopause’.

Conclusions

The accounts suggested that women related to the experience of mood changes during menopause through the lens of their existing framework of bipolar disorder, with implications for understanding of self and treatment choices.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12905-017-0467-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Data Registry on Experiences of Aging, Menopause, and Sexuality (DREAMS): A cohort profile

The Women's Health Clinic (WHC) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has provided consultative care to women with menopausal and sexual health concerns since 2005. Clinical information on the 8688 women seen in the WHC through May 2017 who gave consent for the use of their medical records in research is contained in the Data Registry on Experiences of Aging, Menopause, and Sexuality (DREAMS). Initially, DREAMS was created to improve the clinical care of women, but it has become a valuable research tool. About 25% of the DREAMS women have been seen in the WHC 2 or more times, allowing for passive longitudinal follow-up. Additionally, about 25% of the DREAMS women live in the 27-county region included in the expanded Rochester Epidemiology Project medical records linkage system, providing additional information on those women. The cohort has been used to investigate associations between: caffeine intake and vasomotor symptom bother; recent abuse (physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional) and menopausal symptoms; specific menopausal symptoms and self-reported view of menopause; and obstructive sleep apnea risk and vasomotor symptom severity and the experience of vasomotor symptoms in women older than 60 years. A study nearing completion describes a clinical series of over 3500 women presenting for sexual health consultation by sexual function domain and by decade of life. Other studies under way are determining correlates with sexual health and dysfunction. Planned studies will investigate associations between the experience with menopause and the risk of disease.

Menopause and illness course in bipolar disorder: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES

Menopause may be a time of increased mood symptoms for some women. This systematic review aimed to examine the severity of symptoms and prevalence of mood changes in women with bipolar disorder during peri-menopause and post-menopause.

METHODS

A systematic review was undertaken in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The two primary outcomes assessed were relapse rates and symptom severity during menopause. Databases searched were MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychInfo, CINAHL and SCOPUS from January 1980 until December 2016.

RESULTS

Nine studies, including a total of 273 participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder and who reported menopause, were included in the narrative synthesis. Menopause was reported to be associated with increased symptoms overall, and with depression in particular (range of 46%-91%). The collection of self-reported retrospective data was the most commonly used method to record menopause status.

CONCLUSIONS

The impact of menopause on illness course for women with bipolar disorder is largely under-explored. Preliminary evidence suggests that it may be associated with increased bipolar symptoms. Further work is needed to explore how menopause may interact with bipolar disorder over time and the nature of these symptom changes, and if and how menopause may differ from other reproductive stages.

Vocal Symptoms and Acoustic Findings in Menopausal Women in Comparison to Pre-menopause Women with Body Mass Index as a Confounding Variable

Objectives

To compare the prevalence of phonatory symptoms in menopausal women compared to pre-menopause women with body mass index (BMI) as a confounding variable.

Methods

A total of 69 women, 34 menopausal and 35 pre-menopausal were invited to participate in this study. Demographic variables included age, smoking, and BMI. All subjects were asked about the presence hoarseness, loss of high or low frequencies, pitch breaks, throat clearing, dryness in the throat and vocal fatigue. Acoustic analysis was performed and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI)-10 was filled by all the subjects.

Results

There was a significantly higher prevalence of throat clearing and dryness in the menopausal group compared to the pre-menopause group with a P value of 0.035 and 0.032 respectively. When BMI was taken into account, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of any of the phonatory symptoms in menopausal women with high BMI and pre-menopause. There was no statistically significant difference in the means of any of the acoustic parameters between the menopausal group and pre-menopausal group. There was no significant difference in the mean VHI-10 between the menopause group and the pre-menopause (P = 0.652).

Conclusions

The results of this investigation substantiate the importance of fat as an alternative source of estrogen which can mask some of the phonatory symptoms.