The role of megestrol acetate as an alternative to conventional hormone replacement therapy.

Objective: To investigate the effect of megestrol acetate on menopausal symptoms, lipid metabolism, bone metabolism and coagulation.

Methods: In a prospective observational study, 71 postmenopausal women, for whom conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was unsuitable, were treated with megestrol acetate 40 mg per day. At 0, 3, 6 and 12 months, fasting lipoproteins, bone biochemistry and thrombophilia profiles were measured and symptom score cards (Greene climacteric scale) completed.

Effects of tibolone on serum lipoprotein and apolipoprotein levels compared with a cyclical estrogen/progestogen regimen.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of tibolone, a synthetic steroid that alleviates climacteric symptoms and prevents bone loss without inducing monthly bleeds, on lipoprotein cardiovascular risk markers and to compare the effects with those of a standard combined estrogen/progestogen preparation.

Design: Ninety-seven postmenopausal women were randomly allocated to receive either tibolone 2.5 mg/day or conjugated equine estrogens 0.

Puerperal thromboprophylaxis: comparison of the anti-Xa activity of enoxaparin and unfractionated heparin.

Low molecular weight heparins are used extensively for thromboprophylaxis. The aim of this study was to compare the activity of the low molecular weight heparin, enoxaparin, 20 mg and 40 mg, given once per day with unfractionated heparin, 7500iu given twice per day, in terms of their anti-Xa activity in puerperal women following caesarean section and with an additional risk factor for venous thromboembolism. Seventeen women were randomised to receive one of the three treatments.