Hormone therapy may cut Alzheimers risk in menopausal women (Reuters) / 25 October 2012 CHICAGO - The latest data from a long-running study of hormone therapy suggests women who started taking hormone replacements within five years of menopause were 30 percent less likely to develop Alzheimers disease than women who started years later. The findings, reported in the journal Neurology, add to evidence suggesting that taking hormone treatments around the time of menopause may be doing more than just helping women cope with hot flashes and night sweats. Our results suggest that there may be a critical window near menopause where hormone therapy may possibly be beneficial, Peter Zandi of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, one of the study leaders, said in a statement. The findings come as menopausal women and their doctors continue to parse out the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy. Most researchers agree that hormone replacements do not protect women from diseases of aging, and taking these drugs for long periods of time are associated with significant risks, including breast cancer, heart disease and gall bladder disease. Earlier this week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reaffirmed its 2005 guidelines recommending against the treatment as … Continue reading →

Women who begin taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) within five years of the menopause may reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a study suggests. Scientists monitored 1,768 women aged 65 and over for 11 years, taking note of their history of HRT use. During the study, 176 women developed Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that women who started HRT within five years of the menopause had a 30% lower risk of Alzheimer's than those who had not used hormone therapy. The risk was unchanged among HRT users who began the treatment more than five years after the menopause. A higher risk of dementia was seen in women who started combined oestrogen and progestin therapy when they were at least 65 years old. "This has been an area of debate because observational studies have shown a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease with hormone therapy use, while a randomised controlled trial showed an increased risk," said study leader Dr Peter Zandi, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US. "Our results suggest that there may be a critical window near menopause where hormone therapy may possibly be beneficial. On the other hand, if started later in life, hormone therapy could be associated … Continue reading →

The risks of taking hormone therapy to prevent heart disease and osteoporosis in post menopausal women far outweigh the benefits and such treatment is not recommended, according to new guidelines from an influential panel of U.S. health advisers. The guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reaffirm the group's 2005 guidelines recommending against the treatment. They apply only to hormone therapy for prevention of chronic disease. They do not apply to the use of hormones to treat symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness, or to women under age 50 who have had a hysterectomy. "Our recommendation is the same as it was for 2005," said Dr. Kirstin Bibbins-Domingo, a researcher and internist at the University of California San Francisco and a member of the task force. "In evaluating the evidence for both the benefits and the harms of these therapies, the task force recommends against these therapies for the purpose of preventing chronic conditions," she said in a telephone interview. The guidelines are based on a review of the most recent scientific evidence, which showed that estrogen alone and estrogen plus progestin reduce the risk of … Continue reading →

By Mary Brophy Marcus HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Oct. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Is hormone replacement therapy safe or not? It has taken a decade of research to arrive at a conclusion that is far from definitive: The evidence suggests it may help in the short term to manage hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause in some younger, healthy women. But, taking it for long periods of time or later in menopause to help prevent certain chronic diseases isn't recommended. On Monday, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force once again backed the idea that long-term use later in menopause is unwise when it released recommendations that said the increased health risks outweighed the benefits of using the treatment in that medical scenario. That was not always the prevailing view in the medical community, however. For years, it was common for women suffering from hot flashes, night sweats and other life-disrupting symptoms of menopause to go on hormone replacement therapy -- typically a combination of estrogen and progesterone or progestin (a progesterone-like medication). That all changed in 2002, when the practice was halted by many after the landmark Women's Health Initiative trial found that rates for breast cancer and stroke were … Continue reading →

To meet the demands of those seeking hormone replacement therapy in Florida, Total Rejuvenation has opened its new medical center in Jupiter, FL. The exclusive center features new rejuvenating services along with industry-leading hormone therapy. Jupiter, FL (PRWEB) October 23, 2012 Along with the announcement of their new center, Total Rejuvenation also introduces its new medical director, Dr. Bruce Dooley, MD. As a member of the American Holistic Medical Society and former director of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine, Dr. Dooley leads the center in providing the latest revitalizing therapies. Thanks to his expertise in detecting and treating heavy metal toxicity, the center is also now able to provide new services to patients in Florida and around the nation. In addition to HRT, the Total Age Management Center now also offers the following: IV nutrition, chelation therapy, and heavy metal testing. While IV nutrition helps revitalize patients suffering from chronic fatigue and nutritional deficiency, chelation therapy, along with heavy metal testing, aims to help purge the body of toxic substances. To learn more about Total Rejuvenation's services, visit TotalRejuvenation.com or call 877-530-9222. To learn more about the newly-opened medical center, visit TotalAM.com or view its latest YouTube … Continue reading →

By Julie Steenhuysen Reuters CHICAGO -- The latest data from a long-running study of hormone therapy suggests women who started taking hormone replacements within five years of menopause were 30 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than women who started years later. The findings, reported on Wednesday in the journal Neurology, add to evidence suggesting that taking hormone treatments around the time of menopause may be doing more than just helping women cope with hot flashes and night sweats. "Our results suggest that there may be a critical window near menopause where hormone therapy may possibly be beneficial," Peter Zandi of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, one of the study leaders, said in a statement. The findings come as menopausal women and their doctors continue to parse out the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy. Most researchers agree that hormone replacements do not protect women from diseases of aging, and taking these drugs for long periods of time are associated with significant risks, including breast cancer, heart disease and gall bladder disease. Earlier this week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reaffirmed its 2005 guidelines recommending against the treatment as a way to prevent chronic disease. But the … Continue reading →

Long-term hormone replacement therapy, HRT, used to be a fairly standard treatment for women going through, and post-menopause. Since 2005, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against such long-term use, citing that the potential risks of the treatment outweighed the possible benefits; guidelines published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine reaffirmed the panel's 2005 statement. Understanding the Use of Hormone Replacement Therapy in Women As women age, their bodies produce smaller amounts of estrogen and progestin. During the menopausal years, such as baby boomer generation are now or have already experienced, the changes in hormone levels may result in adverse symptoms, the most notable of which are hot flashes, night sweat, vaginal atrophy and difficulty sleeping. HRT during the menopause transition helps to alleviate the symptoms. It is not this short-term use, likely lasting months to a few years, that the USPSTF is concerned with, but rather the long-term use of the hormones in the prevention of chronic diseases such as osteoporosis and heart disease. This independent panel of non-government health experts recommend against the use of both estrogen and progestin in postmenopausal women and the use of estrogen alone in postmenopausal women who have had … Continue reading →

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The risks of taking hormone therapy to prevent heart disease and osteoporosis in post menopausal women far outweigh the benefits and such treatment is not recommended, according to new guidelines from an influential panel of U.S. health advisers. The guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reaffirm the group's 2005 guidelines recommending against the treatment. They apply only to hormone therapy for prevention of chronic disease. They do not apply to the use of hormones to treat symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness, or to women under age 50 who have had a hysterectomy. "Our recommendation is the same as it was for 2005," said Dr. Kirstin Bibbins-Domingo, a researcher and internist at the University of California San Francisco and a member of the task force. "In evaluating the evidence for both the benefits and the harms of these therapies, the task force recommends against these therapies for the purpose of preventing chronic conditions," she said in a telephone interview. The guidelines are based on a review of the most recent scientific evidence, which showed that estrogen alone and estrogen plus progestin reduce … Continue reading →