Depressed mood during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study.

Objective: To characterize patterns of depressed mood during the menopausal transition (MT) in relation to age and MT-related factors and to assess the contribution of factors related to depressed mood at earlier points in the life span.

Design: Women (N = 508) were recruited from 1990 to 1992 from multiethnic neighborhoods and followed annually through 2005: 302 met the eligibility criteria for analyses reported here. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) and a menstrual calendar were completed annually throughout the study.

Hot flash severity in hormone therapy users/nonusers across the menopausal transition.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of and factors that influence hot flash severity across the menopausal transition (MT) and early postmenopause (PM).

Methods: Women from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study (N=302) provided data for these analyses: at least one annual health questionnaire and a menstrual calendar. A subset of women provided a first morning voided urine specimen from 1997 through 2005.

Symptoms during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause and their relation to endocrine levels over time: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study.

Objective: To determine whether hot flashes, depressed mood, sleep, cognitive and sexual symptoms correlate with urinary follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estrone (E(1)G), and testosterone (T) and with each other during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause (PM).

Methods: Forty-one women who transitioned from middle or late transition stage to PM rated symptoms and provided monthly urine specimens as part of a longitudinal study of the menopausal transition.

Results: Correlations between endocrine levels and symptom severity ratings over time revealed that hot flash severity was significantly and positively related to FSH and negatively to E1 G.

Association of estrogen-related polymorphisms with age at menarche, age at final menstrual period, and stages of the menopausal transition.

Objective: To explore the association of estrogen-related polymorphisms with age at menarche, age at onset and duration of stages of the menopausal transition, and age at final menstrual period (FMP).

Design: A total of 152 white women were genotyped for CYP17, CYP19 3-untranslated region, CYP19 TTTA7-13, HSDB1, CYP1A1, CYP1B1, and ESR1 polymorphisms. Analysis of variance was used to test a nonspecific model for differences among genotypes associated with each polymorphism.

Increased urinary cortisol levels during the menopausal transition.

Objective: To determine whether cortisol levels change prospectively during the menopausal transition (MT); whether these changes are associated with changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis (follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH] and estrone glucuronide [E1G]), stressors, or menopause symptoms; and whether women who experienced a rise in cortisol levels during the transition had behavioral practices, stressors, vasomotor symptoms, or mood or sleep disturbances that affected hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function.

Design: One hundred sixty-nine women in the middle or late MT or early postmenopause stages provided monthly urine specimens for cortisol, FSH, and E1G, and rated symptoms and stress levels as part of a longitudinal study of the MT. Of these women, 91 completed a transition to the next MT stage: from early to middle (n = 30), middle to late (n = 39), or late to postmenopause (n = 22) and were eligible for inclusion in the analyses.