By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, May 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Hearing loss has been linked to several factors associated with menopause, a new study says. One factor is your age at menopause. An older age is tied to a higher risk of hearing troubles. And, a second factor is the use of oral hormone therapy to ease some of the symptoms of menopause. The researchers also found that the longer a woman used hormone therapy, the greater the odds of hearing issues. Hearing loss was already known to be more common in women after menopause, a time when natural hormone levels drop. Because of this, doctors had suspected that the use of oral hormone therapy might offer some protection against menopause-linked hearing loss, the researchers said. "The finding from this observational study that women who underwent menopause at a later age and used oral hormone therapy had greater hearing loss was unexpected but should lead to more testing in a randomized, clinical trial," JoAnn Pinkerton, executive director of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), said in news release from the group. The current study can only show an association between hearing loss and hormone therapy or older age … Continue reading →

Hearing loss affects tens of millions of people in the United States. New research examines the link between menopausal age, the use of oral hormonal therapy, and hearing loss in the first large-scale study of its kind. The World Health Organization (WHO) define hearing loss as the inability to hear sounds of 25 decibels or under in speech. This often leads to difficulties understanding conversations and hearing certain sounds. Hearing loss reportedly affects as many as 48 million U.S. individuals, or over 20 percent of the country's adult population. Women seem to be at a significantly lower risk of hearing loss than men. Between the ages of 20 and 69, men are twice as likely as women to develop speech-frequency hearing loss. While it is not known why women tend to be protected from hearing loss, some studies have suggested that the female hormone estrogen may protect the inner ear. Estrogen is known to affect the cells in several parts of the human body, including the heart, brain, and blood vessels. Additionally, in the women that are affected by hearing loss, this tends to be more prevalent after menopause. During this time, levels of progesterone and estrogen start to decline … Continue reading →

GETTY STOCK IMAGE Earlier studies suggested that menopause may increase the risk for hearing loss, due to a reduction in oestrogen levels. It was also previously thought that and that postmenopausal hormone therapy might slow hearing decline by 'replacing' oestrogen. However, researchers in the US now claim that the hormone replacement drugs could actually increase the chance of older women going deaf. To investigate the role of menopause and postmenopausal hormone therapy as risk factors for hearing loss, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, studied independent links between menopausal status, oral hormone therapy, and risk of self-reported hearing loss in 80,972 women. Researchers found that 23 percent of the participants in the study suffered hearing loss. They found found no significant overall association between menopausal status and risk of hearing loss, although higher risk was associated with older age at natural menopause. GETTY STOCK IMAGE Our research focuses on identifying preventable contributors to hearing loss Dr Sharon Curhan Use of postmenopausal hormone therapy was associated with higher risk of hearing loss and the risk increased the longer women took HRT drugs. Lead author Dr Sharon Curhan said: "Many factors contribute to acquired hearing loss, including age, genetics, … Continue reading →

Ray (Elle Fanning, left) with his mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts, center), and grandmother, Dolly (Susan Sarandon). Ray (Elle Fanning, left) with his mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts, center), and grandmother, Dolly (Susan Sarandon). Dolly (Susan Sarandon, right) struggles to accept her transgender grandson, Ray (Elle Fanning), in 3 Generations. Dolly (Susan Sarandon, right) struggles to accept her transgender grandson, Ray (Elle Fanning), in 3 Generations. 3 Generations: a lukewarm drama about a transgender teen 3 Generations, about a transgender teenager who faces family hurdles in trying to undergo hormone replacement therapy, is a lukewarm drama that gets lost in transition. It seems dated and oddly out of touch from the first frame. Elle Fanning plays Ray, a 16-year-old who needs written permission from his parents to get the medical treatment he needs. His mostly supportive mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), thinks its too soon, and his lesbian grandmother, Dolly (Susan Sarandon), suggests that he should just be a lesbian, because he likes girls. None of these characters is particularly well drawn, and Sarandon veers dangerously close to parody, coming off more like a Dubuque ditz than a Brooklyn bohemian. Fanning gives it her best, but she isnt ultimately convincing, perhaps done in … Continue reading →

The statistic is astounding. More than 40 percent of women in the United States are now obese and the rise in the growth in that percentage has made uterine or endometrial cancer the fastest growing cancer among women in the United States. The number one culprit behind the rise in incidence of uterine cancer is obesity, says Dr. Molly Brewer, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology who also oversees UConn Healths new Womens Center. Research data shows as the prevalence of obesity has risen over the past few decades so has the rate of endometrial cancer as well as the mortality from this cancer. Obesity is carrying extra body fat leading to body mass index (BMI) calculation of 30 or greater. A normal or healthy weight has a BMI below 25 while being overweight ranges from 25 to 29. In addition, if a woman has a waist circumference that is more than 35 inches it signals she may be carrying extra belly fat, placing her health at risk. Free and easy-to-use online self BMI calculators are available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other organizations. Abnormal, unexplained vaginal bleeding Any vaginal bleeding post-menopause Abdominal … Continue reading →

Patient sex influences the impact of rivaroxaban on MI risk in Medicare beneficiaries with newly diagnosed A-fib, with menbut not womenderiving a benefit, a new analysis suggests. When it comes to risks of heart failure and all-cause mortality, however, rivaroxaban (Xarelto; Janssen Pharmaceuticals) and dabigatran (Pradaxa; Boehringer Ingelheim) both have the advantage over warfarin in men and women alike, Ghanshyam Palamaner Subash Shantha, MBBS (University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City), reported during a poster session at Heart Rhythm 2017 in Chicago, IL. The findings may have implications for personalizing the choice of anticoagulation in patients with A-fib, Shantha told TCTMD. For example, he said, an older man with a history of acute MI may be a good candidate for rivaroxaban over another anticoagulant because of the added protection against recurrent infarction. The newer anticoagulants have benefits other than stroke protection, Shantha said, noting that much of the mortality in patients with A-fib is caused by reasons other than stroke. So it is time that we start looking into agents which protect from stroke but at the same time have an effect on mortality, acute MI, and heart failure. Shantha pointed out that the randomized trials of the non-vitamin … Continue reading →

The following is a guest post courtesy ofDavid H. Schwartz, Ph.D. of Innovative Science Solutions LLC andNathan Schachtman, Esq. Establishing a rigorous and reliable causal inference between an exposure and an adverse health outcome is one of the most difficult things to do in the health sciences. However, it is sometimes even more difficult to effectively and appropriately demonstrate that a causal relationship does not exist. The difficulty of this task was illustrated in the most recent talcum powder trial in St. Louis, Missouri. As was widely reported, Johnson & Johnson and talc raw material producer Imerys received the third (and largest) plaintiff verdict in their four recent talc trials (3 plaintiff verdicts and one defense verdict). Having the enviable opportunity to watch the trial (in real time or on demand) on Courtroom View Networks website provides an invaluable opportunity to review and learn from an important ongoing mass tort action. At this trial, the defense put up a single expert witness, Dr. Huh, a clinician who defended the aggressive and wide-ranging scientific claims advanced by plaintiffs expert witnesses in a number of scientific disciplines, including epidemiology, clinical medicine, and pathology. Dr. Huh, a skilled and experienced ObGyn and a … Continue reading →