Weighing the Risks of Hormone Therapy
The post below originally ran on Huffington Post’s Healthy Living blog on February 19. To see the original post click here.
For over a decade, hormone therapy (HT) has been a hot topic in medicine. Unfortunately, women are still confused and concerned about using HT after two federally-funded studies linked HT to potentially serious health risks. Even decades after these studies, information on HT is seriously muddied, and not much is still fully known or understood about the treatment. It’s time to clear up the confusion and debunk the false reports surrounding its risks.
HT is used to primarily treat menopaus...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - April 28, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Aging Women's Health Source Type: blogs
The Single Senior STD Epidemic
If you think your retired parents who have settled into a low-key retirement home or senior living community are spending their time playing checkers and watching soaps, think again! They may be running around having sex just like college kids let loose in a dorm for the first time. Senior citizens, contrary to popular belief, are often still sexually active. And they are spreading sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
According to the Center for Disease Control, since 2007, the incidence of syphilis among seniors, those 65 and over, is up by 52 percent, and the number of chlamydia cases has risen 32 percent. The rapid inc...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - April 27, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Aging Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, March 10, 2015
From MedPage Today:
Kid’s Asthma Not Linked to Maternal SSRIs in Pregnancy. Children whose depressed mothers took newer antidepressants while pregnant were not at increased risk of childhood asthma.
Menopausal HT Not Tied to Greater Death Risk. Hormone therapy in postmenopausal women was not linked to a significant effect on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, or breast cancer death.
In Cancer Wars, It’s Doctors vs. Hospitals. Colliding federal policies are fomenting a nasty money war that’s pitting community oncologists trying to treat patients in less expensive clinic settings against hospitals...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 10, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: MedPage Today Tags: News Cancer OB/GYN Pulmonology Rheumatology Source Type: blogs
Hormone Therapy At Menopause Fails To Halt Heart Disease Progression
More than a decade ago the Women’s Health Study produced surprising and important results when it showed that broad use of hormone replacement therapy did not reduce cardiovascular risk in post-menopausal women. But the study also led to speculation that hormone therapy might be beneficial when delivered closer to the time of menopause. Now a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine shows that menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) may have some favorable effects on some cardiovascular risk factors but it does not reduce the progression of atherosclerosis. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes...
Source: CardioBrief - July 28, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes estrogen hormone replacement therapy HRT Menopause Women's Health Initiative Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, May 28, 2014
From MedPage Today:
SNRI Equal to Hormones for Hot Flush Tx. A low dose of the antidepressant venlafaxine (Effexor) appeared roughly as good as hormonal therapy to ease hot flushes in menopause.
USPSTF Urges HBV Screening for High-Risk People. People at high risk for hepatitis B (HBV) should be screened for the virus, according to a new recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Latent TB Infection Seen Among Foreign Teens. Among teens who underwent tuberculin skin tests in a single U.S. school district, all of the students with positive results reported “non-American nationalities,”...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 28, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: MedPage Today Tags: News GI Infectious disease Neurology OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
Confused and Upset by a Second Opinion, but Ready to Fight for My Life
I am a huge advocate for second opinions. It was a no-brainer that I would seek one out after this diagnosis of breast cancer metastasis. In the past it generally confirmed the treatment my first doctor recommended or provided options, as in reconstructive surgery. This time it just confused and upset me.
I sought a second opinion in my case not because I didn’t trust my oncologist. I not only love Dr. Khan, he is esteemed as one of the top oncologists in my state. In fact, his office prepared all the medical records that needed to be sent to the health system where I planned to go. I chose to meet with the cancer c...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - May 15, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups, RN Tags: Breast Cancer BRCA chemotherapy hormonal therapy PARP breast cancer Second Opinion Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, March 24, 2014
From MedPage Today:
Water Labor OK, Water Birth Risky, Groups Say. Immersion in water during the early stages of labor might benefit mothers-to-be by decreasing pain and shortening delivery times, but giving birth in water has no proven benefits and poses potentially serious risks to the baby, according to a statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
Some Breast Cancers Require Longer Tx. Breast cancers with high-level estrogen sensitivity had a significantly greater risk of late recurrence, possibly indicating a need for more than 5 years o...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 24, 2014 Category: Family Physicians Tags: News Cancer Neurology OB/GYN Source Type: blogs
Thoughts on mammograms and false positives
There has been a lot of controversy in recent years about the benefits of mammography and false positives. I read Dr Susan Love's take on how "Mammography is like the TSA" and the comments left by women. It made me think.I started having annual mammograms at age 22 because of a benign fibroadenoma so I am sort of out of the discussion. My breast cancer was discovered 23 annual mammograms later at age 45. I went to all those mammograms without any concern until the one in 2007 (and if you are trying to figure out how old I am, currently I am 37) which turned into an ultrasound, a lot of denial on my part, followed by two su...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - March 4, 2014 Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer cancer screening controversy mammogram Source Type: blogs
Weight gain is a side effect of cancer.
Weight gain is the side effect of everything these days - even breathing. I am on too many medications which have a side effect of weight gain.... So here I sit in my slightly tight clothes two sizes larger than I used to wear in dire need of a drastic deflabbification project."People with certain cancers – such as breast, prostate and colon cancer – are more likely to gain weight during treatment due to the therapies used to combat their disease. Hormone therapy, some chemotherapy regimens and medications such as steroids all can cause weight gain, as well as water retention."THEY DIDN'T TELL ME T...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - February 20, 2014 Category: Cancer Tags: cancer diagnosis side effects weight Source Type: blogs
Amenorrhea and infertility
Summary: The commonest cause of amenorrhea is anovulation and Malpani Clinic can help you in making the right diagnosis , so you can get the correct treatment.Amenorrhea is the absence of periods. It is a symptom which is a result of some underlying disorder of the reproductive system. It may or may not be accompanied by other symptoms like headache, excess facial hair, and abdominal pain depending upon the cause. At Malpani Infertility Clinic, we diagnose the cause of your amenorrhea by taking a careful history and doing a thorough workup. A detailed record of your menstrual periods and any associated symptoms will help...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - December 18, 2013 Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs
Sisters Claim Merck's Gardasil Vaccine Caused Ovary Problems
Six years ago, Madelyne and Olivia Meylor were vaccinated with Gardasil. Like millions of parents, their mother agreed to have the teenage sisters vaccinated to ward off the human papillomavirus that can lead to cervical cancer. But within a couple of years, both were diagnosed with premature ovarian failure and were told they will be unable to get pregnant. They now experience signs of menopause.
And so, the Meylor family has filed a claim with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in what appears to be the first case before the federal program to allege that Gardasil is responsible for this type of injury. As ...
Source: Pharmalot - November 19, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
I still think there is something else...
I know I have chemo brain. I had chemo and my brain has gaps and I cant remember things. I know I have fibro fog. I have fibromyalgia and now I can't remember names or words for things.But now I know I also have 'cognitive decline from breast cancer hormone treatment' due to my Femara treatment.""Decline in cognitive function is common in patients receiving adjuvant therapy for early-stage breast cancer," concluded Dr. Rugo, director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program at the University of California, San Francisco. "Ongoing hormone therapy appears to be a risk factor for worse cognitive function."I'm doome...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - October 20, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: femara fibro fog chemo brain Source Type: blogs
The Gold Standard for Breast Cancer Screening
Mammograms are still the gold standard for breast cancer screening. Although I go to great lengths to get my friends to go for a yearly mammogram, I am always surprised at how many women try to avoid it or make excuses not to have one. To be clear, by screening I mean testing to reveal cancer when none is suspected. The goal is to detect breast cancer before it becomes invasive.
Finding a breast tumor while it is still in-situ, or in the duct results in a much better outcome and possibly avoids extensive surgery and treatment. Both my mother and my mother-in-law were fortunate to be diagnosed with breast cancer while ...
Source: Life with Breast Cancer - October 14, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Kathy-Ellen Kups, RN Tags: Breast Cancer Breast Cancer Screening Mammograms Thermography Source Type: blogs
Long Terms Study Results Offer Broad Perspective On Hormone Replacement Therapy For Women
More than a decade ago the NHLBI’s Women’s Health Initiative trials overturned the conventional wisdom that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women helped protect women from a broad spectrum of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease. The findings caused dramatic reductions in the use of HRT but important questions remained, many involving the age or time since menopause of women taking HRT. Now a report published in JAMA provides for the first time a comprehensive overview of the risks and benefits of HRT. “Overall,” the authors state, “the WHI findings sugges...
Source: CardioBrief - October 1, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes hormone replacement therapy Hormone therapy HRT Jacques Rossouw Menopause national heart lung and blood institute Women's Health Initiative Source Type: blogs
Estrogen matters... for men
Gina Kolata: Estrogen, the female sex hormone, turns out to play a much bigger role in men’s bodies than previously thought, and falling levels contribute to their expanding waistlines just as they do in women’s. The discovery of the role of estrogen in men is “a major advance,” said Dr. Peter J. Snyder, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who is leading a big new research project on hormone therapy for men 65 and over. Until recently,... (Source: Dr. X's Free Associations)
Source: Dr. X's Free Associations - September 13, 2013 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: DrX Tags: Front Page Source Type: blogs
