Menopause

This review is a pragmatic attempt to highlight recent research and some backround reading in menopause. It should not be considered exhaustive, simply a way of reviewing some of the major developments and current thinking in the area.

TRIP have created another review on HRT. This has a different focus, but may be of interest.

Click here to see all the TRIP Evidence Reviews.

Evidence-Based Reports

• SSRIs ineffective for hot flushes. POEMs, 2005
• Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes. Bandolier, 2005
• Review: plant based oestrogens do not relieve hot flushes or other menopausal symptoms. Evidence-Based Nursing (Requires free registration). 2005

Clinical Guidelines

• Menopause. PRODIGY, 2005
• Women's health and the menopause - RCN guidance for nurses, midwives and health visitors. Royal College of Nursing, 2005
• Complementary approaches to menopausal symptoms. Royal College of Nursing, 2006
• Canadian Consensus Conference on Menopause, 2006
• Menopause: a guide to management. Brigham and Women's Hospital, 2005
• Menopause and hormone therapy (HT): collaborative decision-making and management. Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, 2006
• American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists medical guidelines for clinical practice for the diagnosis and treatment of menopause, 2006

Systematic Reviews

• Nonhormonal therapies for menopausal hot flashes: systematic review and meta-analysis. DARE, 2006
• Strontium ranelate for preventing and treating postmenopausal osteoporosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2006
• Local oestrogen for vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2006
• Menopause-Related Symptoms, Management. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2005

Recent articles in core journals

• Vasomotor symptoms in menopause: physiologic condition and central nervous system approaches to treatment. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2007
• Postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease by age and years since menopause. JAMA, 2007
• Complementary and alternative therapies for the management of menopause-related symptoms: a systematic evidence review. Arch Intern Med, 2006
• Hormonal therapy for menopause and breast-cancer risk by histological type: a cohort study and meta-analysis. Lancet Oncol, 2006
• Treatment of vasomotor symptoms of menopause with black cohosh, multibotanicals, soy, hormone therapy, or placebo: a randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2006
• Nonhormonal therapies for menopausal hot flashes: systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 2006

eTextbooks

• eMedicine
• Merck Manual
• GP Notebook

Clinical queries

• For women showing signs of the menopause, when is contraception no longer required? FFPRHC, 2007
• Should patients on HRT for premature menopause have mammmograms before 50 years of age and if so when should they be offered? NLH Q&A Service, 2007
• A 26 year old patient wants to delay starting her family until she is 30 years old. Her mother had menopause at age 40yrs and sister at mid 30s. What is the likelyhood of her having premature menopause? NLH Q&A Service, 2006
• What is the evidence for using ssri's for the treatment of menopausal flushing? NLH Q&A Service, 2006
• What is an normal endometrial thickness and is it different during the menopause? NLH Q&A Service, 2006
• How reliable are the fsh tests while on the pill for confirming menopause? NLH Q&A Service, 2006
• What is the evidence for the use of venlafaxine for treating menopausal sweats / flushes? NLH Q&A Service, 2006

Patient Information

• Informed Health Online
• Better Health Channel
• NHS Direct Online
• eMedicine Consumer Health
• Merck Manual - Home Edition