EMAS position statement: The ten point guide to the integral management of menopausal health.

With increased longevity and more women becoming centenarians, management of the menopause and postreproductive health is of growing importance as it has the potential to help promote health over several decades. Women have individual needs and the approach needs to be personalised. The position statement provides a short integral guide for all those involved in menopausal health.

Temporal parameters of the foot roll-over during walking: influence of obesity and sarcopenic obesity on postmenopausal women.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish a reference dataset for temporal parameters on postmenopausal women during walking and to explore the effect of obesity and sarcopenic obesity on the same parameters.

Methods: Based on plantar pressure data collected from 239 postmenopausal women, the initial contact, final contact, time to peak pressure and the duration of contact at the 10 anatomical areas of the foot considered were measured. Body composition was evaluated by octopolar bioimpedance.

Exercise effects in plantar pressure of postmenopausal women.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a 12-month moderate-to-vigorous exercise program on plantar pressure among postmenopausal women.

Methods: A total of 121 white postmenopausal women participated in a randomized controlled trial (60 women in the exercise group and 61 women in the control group). Women in the exercise group attended training sessions of 60 minutes, 3 days per week, on nonconsecutive days.

Association of ovarian and uterine cancers with postmenopausal hormonal treatments.

During hormone treatments for the relief of the symptoms of postmenopausal women a number of side effects may occur. Some may be due to the wrong choice of the steroids used for treatment or to the route of administration. However, the more important ones deserving much attention are the rare occurrences of malignancies of the uterus and ovaries.

When a dream comes through..

This is a follow-up of a paper ''My dream'' published in Climacteric (2004;7:322-3) in which it was imagined that the WHI investigators would one day apologize to the women of the world for the unjustified damage they has caused with the misinterpretation of the WHI results. Time has shown that this is about to happen as the recent reanalysis of the study show that, contrary to what they had written, HRT does protect from cardiovascular diseases when started in the early postmenopause. Furthermore comments are made about the political background of the reported results as a disservice to the medical community and to the women, themselves.

An analysis of ovarian cancer in the Million Women Study.

In a reanalysis of the Million Women Study (MWS), their authors concluded that prolonged use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in postmenopausal women increases the risk of ovarian cancer. Although statistically significant their results are clinically irrelevant, since the attributable risk over 5 years is only 4 per 10 000 HRT users, a figure that is not confirmed by other large studies. This risk is much lower than those associated with obesity, lack of physical exercise, smoking and nulliparity, all of which are preventable.

Why do some breast cancer cells remain dormant?

Dormant breast cancer cells are a reality that cannot be overlooked. They may stay dormant either after a spread of cancer cells caused by surgery or after being generated by spontaneous or induced mutations in the course of breast gland growth. Some cases are presented in support of both possibilities, followed by a critical appraisal of the factors that may either keep them dormant or later stimulate their growth into a breast cancer.

Menopause in crisis post-Women's Health Initiative? A view based on personal clinical experience.

Menopausal women should not consider that hormonal treatment is an obligatory long-term commitment. Estrogen-based treatments are extremely effective for vasomotor symptom relief and for vaginal atrophy. HRT also is one of several effective methods for the primary prevention of osteoporosis.