NIH State-of-the-Science Conference on Management of Menopause-Related Symptoms. Held in Besthesda, Maryland on March 21-23, 2005.

摘要

Women going through the menopause transition may experience a variety of symptoms, ranging from hot flashes, night sweats, and problems sleeping to loss of sexual desire, depression, vaginal dryness, and urinary and bleeding complaints. As many as two-thirds of all women may experience vasomotor symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats, in the years around the menopause transition. For some, the resulting discomfort greatly diminishes their quality of life. For many decades, menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) using estrogen (or, in a woman with a uterus, a combination of estrogen and progestin) has been the therapy of choice for relieving menopause-related symptoms. But recently, several large clinical trials have found mixed resultsa greater chance of serious health problems, such as blood clots, stroke, heart disease, or breast cancer, and benefits like fewer hip fractures in certain groups of women using MHT. It is not clear how these findings apply to women with symptoms because these clinical trials were not designed to study such women, but rather to test whether MHT could prevent chronic diseases or conditions of aging, such as heart disease or cognitive decline. Nevertheless, many women and their doctors are concerned about the use of MHT for their menopausal symptoms and interested in learning about alternatives. Research has identified a number of hormonal and nonhormonal approaches that show promise for managing menopause-related symptoms. A careful examination of these strategies for symptom management is urgently needed to provide women and their health care providers with options that will best control their symptoms and restore their quality of life.