Premature menopause is on the rise.

HOT flushes, night sweats, mood swings and the end of a woman’s natural fertility – all before age 40. this is the disturbing reality of premature menopause, and a new study shows it may be much more common than doctors realised.

A British study of almost 5000 women, one of the most comprehensive yet into premature menopause, showed that 7.4 per cent of women experienced the condition. Previous international studies suggested only 1 per cent of women were affected.

The average age of menopause is about 51 but premature menopause, or premature ovarian failure, affects women under 40, in what is supposed to be their reproductive prime. The figures have intrigued medical experts. they are unable to say whether the condition is becoming more common – perhaps a result of modern lifestyles – or has previously been under-diagnosed.

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The data, presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Stockholm, reveal that about 6 per cent of women in the study had unexplained premature menopause. Another 1.4 per cent had had surgery that had brought on the condition.

A co-author of the study, Rumana Islam, from Imperial College in London, said more research was needed into the condition.

In cases of unexplained premature menopause, the study found that smokers and women from a lower socio-economic background were more likely to be affected.

”Most cases of unexplained premature ovarian failure have no identified cause, although a minority are due to genetic or auto-immune problems,” Dr Islam said, adding: ”As we learn more about premature ovarian failure, we should be able to identify which aspects of low socio-economic status are associated with this problem.”

Many women with premature menopause go undiagnosed, as the condition is not widely recognised by GPs.

As well as experiencing symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings and sleep problems, women who go through premature menopause have an increased risk of cardio-vascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis and premature death.

Dr Islam said the poor quality of life experienced by women with premature menopause was on par with other chronic health problems.

”Most shocking to us was the huge impact on quality of life that these women reported,” she said. ”Quality of life impairment was in the range of other serious chronic conditions such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.”

Dr John Eden, a reproductive endocrinologist at the University of NSW, agreed that women with premature menopause can suffer poor quality of life but said many of the symptoms could be managed with hormone replacement therapy.

He questioned the link between early menopause and low socio-economic background but agreed it could often be under-diagnosed.

”It’s often not thought of when a younger woman presents with menopause symptoms,” he said. ”I am often the third or fourth doctor they see before getting a diagnosis.”

Professor Henry Burger, consultant endocrinologist with the Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health, was surprised by the study’s finding on the prevalence of premature menopause: ”The general impression is that one in 100 women will experience menopause before age 40. The prevalence in their study is quite a lot higher than that.”

Jane Elliott, president-elect of the Australasian Menopause Society, said unexplained premature menopause could come as a terrible shock to women who suffer from physical as well as psychological symptoms.

NEW YORK, New York (CBS) — One and a half million Americans are living with Parkinson’s Disease. now scientists say gene therapy could help manage the symptoms and help make life better for patients.

Walter Liskiewicz loves jazz, but it wasn’t his first calling. he was forced to give up his career as a surgeon 16 years ago because of Parkinson’s disease. he says, “I had to retire.”

Medications helped ease Walter’s symptoms like tremors, stiffness and difficulty with movement. but eventually they didn’t work as well. so he volunteered for the first gene therapy experiment for Parkinson’s. he had billions of copies of a specific gene inserted directly into his brain to try and reverse his symptoms.

Dr. Michael Kaplitt with New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center and study co-author says, “We’re putting in a gene to change the way these cells actually function.”

Parkinson’s disease attacks nerve cells in the brain and typically develops after age 50. Gene therapy is not a cure-but could be a breakthrough in helping patients lead better lives.

Dr. Kaplitt says, “As a group the patients that got treated did much better. and about half of the patients in the treated group did dramatically well, had a moderate to large improvement in their symptoms.”

Walter was one of the treated patients. His wife says despite his continued struggle with symptoms, he’s doing much better. Constance says, “I’m just excited he’s back. We’ve dialed the disease back probably 10 years.”

Scientists say now that they’ve reached this milestone, they can proceed to the final study which could eventually make this treatment available to more people with Parkinson’s.

Researchers are also hopeful this new therapy could lead to treatments for other neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease, depression and epilepsy.

CHICAGO — More than half a million U.S. teens have had an eating disorder but few have sought treatment for the problem, government research shows. the study is billed as the largest and most comprehensive analysis of eating disorders. it involved nationally representative data on more than 10,000 teens aged 13 to 18. Binge-eating disorder was the most common, affecting more than 1.5 percent of kids studied. Just under 1 percent had experienced bulimia, and 0.3 percent had had anorexia. overall, 3 percent had a lifetime prevalence of one of the disorders. Another 3 percent of kids questioned had troubling symptoms but not full-fledged eating disorders. the study was released online Monday in Archives of General Psychiatry. the rates are slightly higher than in other studies. and the study is based on kids and parents interviewed over two years ending in 2004. but co-author and researcher Kathleen Merikangas of the National Institute of Mental Health says similar rates likely exist today. More than half the affected teens had depression, anxiety or some other mental disorder. Sizeable numbers also reported suicide thoughts or attempts. Merikangas said the results underscore the seriousness of eating disorders. ___ Online: NIH: health.nih.gov/topic/EatingDisorders Journal: archpsyc.ama-assn.org/

CHICAGO—Hot flashes that bedevil many women in menopause might actually be a good thing, depending on when they strike, according to new data from a long-running government study.

Women who had hot flashes at the start of menopause but not later seemed to have a lower risk for heart attack and death than women who never had hot flashes, or those whose symptoms persisted long after menopause began.

By contrast, among the few women who developed hot flashes late—in some cases many years after menopause began—there were more heart attacks and deaths when compared with the other groups.

The research involved more than 60,000 women followed for an average of almost 10 years. It’s the first to examine timing of menopausal symptoms and subsequent risks for heart problems and deaths, said co-author Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Recent studies linked hot flashes with higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which could suggest a higher risk for heart problems, but the new research offers a more detailed look, Manson said.

Lead author Dr. Emily Szmuilowicz, an endocrinologist with Northwestern University’s medical school, said the results should reassure millions of women who experience hot flashes or night sweats, which are essentially hot flashes that can be bothersome enough to awaken women.

The results suggest “there may be a positive side” to having these annoying symptoms, Szmuilowicz said.

The study was released online Thursday in the journal Menopause.

Dr. Elsa-Grace Giardina, a Columbia University specialist in women’s heart disease who was not involved in the study, said the research has several limitations and that more rigorous study is needed to prove the results.

Few women developed hot flashes long after menopause began, and for at least some, previous use of hormone pills may have increased their risks for heart problems, Giardina said.

But more than one-third of the women with late-onset symptoms never used hormones, and Szmuilowicz said the researchers took past hormone use into consideration and still found timing of symptoms played a role.

Menopause occurs when women stop having periods and estrogen levels dwindle. most women experience symptoms including hot flashes that can last for several years. But they don’t usually persist indefinitely or begin long after the beginning of menopause.

Hot flashes aren’t well studied but are thought to result from blood vessels dilating in response to the normal hormone fluctuations of menopause, Manson said. if they occur long after menopause begins it could signal a blood vessel abnormality that could also affect the heart, she said.

The research involved 60,027 women from the ongoing Women’s Health Initiative observational study, examining disease risk factors and health outcomes and funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Women were in their early 60s on average, about 14 years past the start of menopause, when they answered questionnaires about their health, education history, and symptoms including hot flashes and night sweats. Cardiovascular problems and deaths were tracked during almost 10 years of follow-up.

More than one-third, or almost 25,000 women, had early symptoms—hot flashes at the onset of menopause that had stopped before they enrolled. just 1,391 had late symptoms—hot flashes at enrollment but not at the start of menopause.

About 2.5 percent of women with early symptoms had heart attacks, compared with 3.4 percent of women with no symptoms and 5.5 percent of those with late symptoms. also, about 6 percent of the early symptom women died, versus 11 percent of the late symptom group and 8 percent of the symptomless women. Women who had persistent hot flashes throughout menopause had risks similar to those without symptoms.

Giardina noted that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity—which all can contribute to heart problems—were more common among the late symptom women.

But the researchers said they accounted for that and still found that timing of menopause symptoms played a role in later heart attacks and deaths.

———

Online:

Menopause: journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/pages/default.aspx

Women’s Health Initiative: nhlbi.nih.gov/whi

CHICAGO – Hot flashes that bedevil many women in menopause might actually be a good thing, depending on when they strike, according to new data from a long-running government study.

Women who had hot flashes at the start of menopause but not later seemed to have a lower risk for heart attack and death than women who never had hot flashes or those whose symptoms persisted long after menopause began.

The research involved more than 60,000 women followed for an average of almost 10 years. It’s the first to examine timing of menopausal symptoms and subsequent risks for heart problems and deaths, said co-author Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Recent studies linked hot flashes with higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which could suggest a higher risk for heart problems, but the new research offers a more detailed look, Manson said.

Lead author Dr. Emily Szmuilowicz, an endocrinologist with Northwestern University’s medical school, said the results should reassure millions of women who experience hot flashes or night sweats, which are essentially hot flashes that can be bothersome enough to awaken women.

The results suggest “there may be a positive side” to having these annoying symptoms, Szmuilowicz said.

The study was released in the journal Menopause.

Dr. Elsa-Grace Giardina, a Columbia University specialist in women’s heart disease who was not involved in the study, said the research has several limitations and that more rigorous study is needed to prove the results.

Few women developed hot flashes long after menopause began, and for at least some, previous use of hormone pills may have increased their risks for heart problems, Giardina said.

But more than one third of the women with late-onset symptoms never used hormones, and Szmuilowicz said the researchers took past hormone use into consideration and still found timing of symptoms played a role.

Menopause occurs when women stop having periods and estrogen levels dwindle. Most women experience symptoms including hot flashes that can last for several years. But they don’t usually persist indefinitely or begin long after the beginning of menopause.

Hot flashes aren’t well studied but are thought to result from blood vessels dilating in response to the normal hormone fluctuations of menopause, Manson said. If they occur long after menopause begins, it could signal a blood vessel abnormality that could also affect the heart, she said.

The research involved 60,027 women from the ongoing Women’s Health Initiative observational study, examining disease risk factors and health outcomes and funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Women were in their early 60s on average, about 14 years past the start of menopause, when they answered questionnaires about their health, education history, and symptoms including hot flashes and night sweats. Cardiovascular problems and deaths were tracked during almost 10 years of follow-up.

More than one third, or almost 25,000 women, had early symptoms – hot flashes at the onset of menopause that had stopped before they enrolled. Just 1,391 had late symptoms – hot flashes at enrollment but not at the start of menopause.

About 2.5 percent of women with early symptoms had heart attacks, compared with 3.4 percent of women with no symptoms and 5.5 percent of those with late symptoms. also, about 6 percent of the early-symptom women died, versus 11 percent of the late-symptom group and 8 percent of the symptomless women. Women who had persistent hot flashes throughout menopause had risks similar to those without symptoms.

Giardina noted that high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity – which all can contribute to heart problems – were more common among the late-symptom women.

But the researchers said they accounted for that and still found that timing of menopause symptoms played a role in later heart attacks and deaths.

Tags: life, health

US researchers looking at how stress affects the gut stumbled upon a potent chemical that caused mice to regrow hair by blocking a stress-related hormone, said a study today.

While the process has not yet been tested in humans, it grew more hair in mice than minoxidil, the ingredient in Rogaine, a popular treatment for baldness, said the study in the online journal PLoS One.

"this could open new venues to treat hair loss in humans through the modulation of the stress hormone receptors, particularly hair loss related to chronic stress and aging," said co-author Million Mulugeta.

Researchers from University of California at Los Angeles and the Veterans Administration discovered the chemical compound "entirely by accident", said the study.

Scientists were using genetically engineered mutant mice that were altered to produce too much of a stress hormone called corticotrophin-releasing factor, or CRF. the chronic stress condition makes them lose hair on their backs.

They injected a chemical compound called astressin-B, developed by the California-based Salk Institute, into the mice to see how the CRF-blocker would affect gastrointestinal function.

When they saw no effect at first, they continued for five days. the researchers completed their gastrointestinal tests and put the mice back in cages with their hairier counterparts.

When they returned to get the stressed-out mice three months later for more tests, they discovered they could no longer tell them apart because the mice had regrown all the hair they had lost.

"Our findings show that a short-duration treatment with this compound causes an astounding long-term hair regrowth in chronically stressed mutant mice," said Professor Mulugeta of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Not only did it help grow hair, it also appeared to help hair maintain its color and not go grey.

"this molecule also keeps the hair color, prevents the hair from turning gray," he said.

The short five-day time span of treatments brought hair growth effects that lasted up to four months, which was also surprising to researchers.

"this is a comparatively long time, considering that mice’s life span is less than two years," Professor Mulugeta said.

Researchers gave the bald mice treatments of "minoxidil alone, which resulted in mild hair growth, as it does in humans. this suggests that astressin-B could also translate for use in human hair growth," said the study.

Co-author Yvette Tache, a professor of medicine at UCLA, said it could take up to five years to start a clinical trial in humans.

"this research could be beneficial in a lot of diseases which are stress-related in their manifestations or exacerbation of symptoms," she said, noting that no sign of toxicity has appeared after extensive tests on mice.

Professor Mulugeta said talks were underway with a major cosmetics firm to fund a study in humans.

"In general, the concept that interfering with the stress hormones or their receptors to prevent or treat stress-related diseases is a very valid concept," he said.

Jean Rivier, a Swiss professor at the Salk Institute, said he has reason to believe the process could be useful in other stress-related ailments, from psoriasis to depression to heart and artery problems.

"You bring back the skin to a normal acidic state where it can essentially go back to a normal stage whereby hair will grow again, and this is very reminiscent of what is seen in relapses and remissions," he said.

The CRF-blocker was studied by other major pharmaceutical companies but was abandoned because it could not administered orally, he said.

However, the latest method uses peptide analogs that bind to the same receptors but via different types of molecules, which could be administered though injections or potentially through a nasal spray.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women who took medication to treat herpes infections during pregnancy weren't more likely to have a baby with birth defects than women who didn't take these drugs in a study of over 800,000 babies born in Denmark.

While the finding doesn't rule out a link between these antivirals and specific types of birth defects, it does show that the drugs aren't causing a lot of birth defects, said Dr. James Mills.

Some medications, including some seizure and acne drugs, have been linked to higher rates of birth defects – a famous side effect of the drug thalidomide that was used in the 1960s to combat morning sickness in pregnant women. But not much was known about the effects of antiviral drugs used to treat herpes.

"As with many drugs used during pregnancy there wasn't much evidence to show they were safe," Mills, an epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, told Reuters Health. Even though there wasn't a major concern about these drugs, medication use during pregnancy is "always an issue," he said. Mills is co-author of an editorial accompanying the Danish study, which is published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Herpes viruses hide out in nerve cells in the body where they periodically cause outbreaks of painful conditions, such as cold sores, genital herpes and, later in life, skin blisters called shingles. the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 6 Americans between 14 and 49 years old is infected with genital herpes, and one study showed that 1 in 4 people will get shingles at some point.

These infections are typically treated with antiviral drugs such as acyclovir (Zovirax). While herpes can't be cured by medication, antivirals can help control the symptoms and outbreaks and relieve pain.

Dr. Bjorn Pasternak and Dr. Anders Hviid, epidemiologists at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark, looked at the records of all babies born in Denmark between 1996 and 2008 – almost 840,000 births. They also examined data from nationwide registries that keep track of all diagnoses of major birth defects and all prescriptions filled at pharmacies in Denmark.

Comparing these registries, the investigators were able to figure out when in the course of their pregnancies women had filled prescriptions for (and presumably taken) herpes medication, and which women gave birth to babies with birth defects.

Pasternak and Hviid focused on medication that pregnant women took during their first trimester, the window of time when organs are developing and most susceptible to drug effects.

During the 12-year study, about 1,800 babies were born to mothers who filled prescriptions for acyclovir, valacyclovir (Valtrex), and famciclovir (Famvir) during their first trimester. forty of those babies had birth defects – 2.2 percent of them. in comparison, close to 20,000 of the 836,000 babies whose mothers didn't take those drugs during the first trimester had birth defects, or 2.4 percent.

Women who filled prescriptions for antivirals during their second and third trimesters also weren't any more likely to give birth to a baby with birth defects than women who didn't fill these prescriptions.

Despite the size of the study, the authors did not have enough data to determine whether there might be a link between any of these drugs and specific birth defects.

Pasternak said more research is needed to rule out a link between herpes medications and specific birth defects, and to answer the question of whether these drugs affect pregnancy complications such as spontaneous abortion.

But, he told Reuters Health, "from a public health perspective it is important to know that women who take antivirals early in pregnancy are not placing themselves at risk of having a child with a birth defect" on the whole.

While the study can't rule out whether an individual taking a herpes antiviral drug might put her baby at risk for certain kinds of defects, "this is the best we can do at the moment," Pasternak said.

The study was funded by the Danish Medical Research Council and the Lundbeck Foundation, which invests in pharmaceutical companies.

SOURCE: link.reuters.com/xyg86n JAMA/Journal of the American Medical Association, August 25, 2010.