Consensus: soy isoflavones as a first-line approach to the treatment of menopausal vasomotor complaints.

The association between an increased uptake of isoflavones and a reduced frequency of menopausal hot flushes was first described in 1992, based on a lower incidence of hot flushes in countries with a high consumption of soy. Since then, numerous clinical trials with various sources of isoflavones including soy and red clover have been presented, with practically all of the studies with adequate design delivering an outcome in favour of isoflavone supplementation. An in-depth risk assessment (EFSA 2015) concludes that the amply available human data does not indicate any suspected harmful effects from a potential interaction of isoflavones with hormone-sensitive tissues in the mammary gland, the uterus and the thyroid gland.

Reproductive factors and lower extremity arterial occlusive disease in women.

Background: Reproductive variables affecting sexual hormone levels seem to be significant for atherosclerosis, a major cause of morbidity of the vessels of the lower extremities such as lower extremity arterial occlusive disease (LEAOD). We quantify a direct relationship between reproductive variables including age at regular and premature menopause and the incidence of severe LEAOD among post-menopausal women.

Methods And Results: Questionnaires were administered to 269 female amputees with LEAOD, 224 patients who underwent total joint replacement due to osteoarthritis and 88 healthy women.

Age-related cognitive decline in the menopause: effects of hormone replacement therapy on cognitive event-related potentials.

Objective: Although epidemiological and clinical studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may protect against cognitive disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, the relation between estrogen and cognition in postmenopausal women remains controversial.

Methods: In a double-blind placebo-controlled, parallel group design study the effects of HRT with the estrogen-progestogen combination Presomen 1.25 compositum((R)) (1.

Effects of an herbal medication containing bee products on menopausal symptoms and cardiovascular risk markers: results of a pilot open-uncontrolled trial.

Objectives: Fifty-five postmenopausal women with menopausal complaints were treated with the food supplement Melbrosia for 3 months. Menopausal symptom evaluation scales and psychological questionnaires were administered, and cardiovascular disease markers in blood were analyzed at the beginning and the end of the trial.

Setting: The perimenopausal care unit of Second Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Identifying target regions for vigilance improvement under hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal syndrome patients by means of electroencephalographic tomography (LORETA).

Rationale: Daytime fatigue, which at the neurophysiological level is due to vigilance decrements, is a frequent complaint in postmenopausal women.

Objectives: In a three-arm, 2-month, parallel group-design study, vigilance-promoting effects of a novel continuous combination (=Climodien 2/3) of estradiol valerate (EV; 2 mg) and dienogest (DNG; 3 mg) were compared with the effects of both EV alone and placebo in 55 insomniac, postmenopausal syndrome patients.

Methods: Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was undertaken to identify the cerebral target regions of hormone replacement therapy.

Hormone profiles, body mass index and aging male symptoms: results of the Androx Vienna Municipality study.

Aging in the male is accompanied by steroid hormonal decline, and men may develop symptoms associated with hypogonadism. Increased awareness of 'andropause' in recent years has led to greater demand for hormonal assessments, resulting in a rising burden for health economics. We conducted a cross-sectional study to define men at risk for hypogonadism, in whom further hormonal investigation should be performed.

Brain regions activated during an auditory discrimination task in insomniac postmenopausal patients before and after hormone replacement therapy: low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography applied to event-related potentials.

Electrical sources of auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) determined by means of low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) in 48 unmedicated insomniac postmenopausal patients aged between 46 and 67 years were compared with those obtained in 48 age-matched normal female controls. Subsequently, the patients were included in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, comparative, randomized 3-arm trial phase - Climodien 2/3 [estradiol valerate (EV) 2 mg + the progestin dienogest 3 mg] was compared with EV 2 mg and placebo - followed by an open-label phase in which all of them received Climodien 2/2 (EV 2 mg + dienogest 2 mg). The double-blind and the open-label phase lasted 2 months.

Insomnia related to postmenopausal syndrome and hormone replacement therapy: sleep laboratory studies on baseline differences between patients and controls and double-blind, placebo-controlled investigations on the effects of a novel estrogen-progestogen combination (Climodien, Lafamme) versus estrogen alone.

Differences in sleep and awakening quality between 51 insomniac postmenopausal syndrome patients and normal controls were evaluated. In a subsequent double-blind, placebo-controlled, comparative, randomized, three-arm trial (Climodien 2/3 = estradiol valerate 2 mg + the progestogen dienogest 3 mg = regimen A, estradiol valerate 2 mg = regimen EV, and placebo = regimen P), the effects of 2 months of hormone replacement therapy were investigated, followed by a 2-month open-label phase in which all patients received Climodien 2/2 (EV 2 mg + dienogest 2 mg = regimen A*). Polysomnography at baseline demonstrated significantly deteriorated sleep initiation and maintenance, increased S1 and decreased S2 in patients.

Effects of hormone replacement therapy on perceptual and cognitive event-related potentials in menopausal insomnia.

The influence of a combined estrogen-progestin regimen (Climodien, Lafamme) on auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) was investigated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, comparative, randomized 3-arm trial phase (Climodien 2/3=estradiol valerate 2 mg+the progestin dienogest 3 mg, EV=estradiol valerate 2 mg, and placebo), followed by an open-label phase in which all patients received Climodien 2/2 (estradiol valerate 2 mg+dienogest 2 mg). Both the double-blind and the open-label phase lasted 2 months. ERPs were recorded from 19 EEG leads in a two-tone odd-ball paradigm in 49 patients aged between 46 and 67 yr with the diagnosis of insomnia (G 47.

Hormone replacement therapy and vigilance: double-blind, placebo-controlled EEG-mapping studies with an estrogen-progestogen combination (Climodien, Lafamme) versus estrogen alone in menopausal syndrome patients.

Unlabelled: The aim of the double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to investigate the effects of a continuous combined estrogen-progestogen treatment (Climodien, Lafamme) as compared with estrogen alone on vigilance in insomniac postmenopausal syndrome patients, objectified by EEG mapping.

Methods: In a 3-arm, 2-month parallel group design phase, patients received a combination of estradiol valerate 2 mg and the novel progestogen dienogest 3 mg (Climodien 2/3) or estradiol valerate 2 mg alone or placebo. In a subsequent open-label phase, all patients received estradiol valerate 2 mg+dienogest 2 mg (Climodien 2/2).

Double-blind, placebo-controlled psychometric studies on the effects of a combined estrogen-progestin regimen versus estrogen alone on performance, mood and personality of menopausal syndrome patients.

The influence of a combined estrogen-progestin regimen (Climodien) on noopsyche, thymopsyche, personality and psychophysiological measures of menopausal syndrome patients was investigated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, comparative, randomized 3-arm trial phase (Climodien 2/3 = estradiol valerate (CAS 979-32-8) 2 mg + the progestin dienogest (CAS 65928-58-7) 3 mg = regimen A, estradiol valerate 2 mg = regimen EV, and placebo = regimen P) followed by an open-label phase in which all patients received Climodien 2/2 (estradiol valerate 2 mg + dienogest 2 mg) = regimen A*. 49 women (16, 17, 16 valid patients per arm) aged between 46 and 67 years (mean 58, 58, 56 years, respectively) with the diagnoses of insomnia (G 47.0) related to postmenopausal syndrome (N 95.

[Hormone replacement therapy with 17 beta-estradiol dydrogesterone: results of a 3-month open-label study].

Hormone replacement therapy is well known for its beneficial effects on climacteric symptoms and is also used for the prevention of osteoporosis. In a prospective open label study we evaluated the efficacy and safety of hormone replacement therapy with 17 beta estradiol dydrogesterone (Femoston, 17 beta estradiol/continuously and dydrogesterone/sequentially). We observed 704 women who were treated with 17 beta estradiol-dydrogesterone over three months.

Reduction of intraocular pressure in a glaucoma patient undergoing hormone replacement therapy.

Objectives: To show the reducing effect of estrogens and progestins on the elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in the case of a 56-year-old woman showing typical climacteric complaints, who was admitted to the menopause outpatient unit. She also suffered from a primary open-angle glaucoma treated with betaophtiole eye drops with intraocular pressures of 16-20 mmHg under this local therapy.

Methods: IOP patterns were monitored by means of standardised daily pressure profiles four times a day before as well as 4 and 12 weeks after the beginning of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Treatment of menopausal keratoconjunctivitis sicca with topical oestradiol.

Objective: To investigate the effect of 17 beta-oestradiol ophthalmic drops in comparison with a traditional tear substitute in postmenopausal women with keratoconjunctivitis sicca.

Design: Randomised prospective trial.

Setting: Menopause clinic.

Hormone replacement therapy and intraocular pressure.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on intraocular pressure (IOP) in menopausal women.

Methods: The IOP of 25 white menopausal women without an abnormal ophthalmologic history was measured before and during HRT regimen. IOP fluctations were recorded before and 1, 4, and 12 weeks after the beginning of HRT.

Exercise therapy for osteoporosis: results of a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To define the effects of therapeutic exercise on bone density and back complaints.

Methods: A randomised controlled trial with parallel groups was conducted in an outpatient clinic, Medical School, University of Vienna. Ninety two sedentary post-menopausal women with back problems were randomly allocated to either exercise (groups 1 and 2) or control (group 3, no exercise, n = 31); the exercise group was retrospectively subdivided into compliant (group 1, n = 27) and not fully compliant patients (group 2, n = 34).

Hormonal, syndromal and EEG mapping studies in menopausal syndrome patients with and without depression as compared with controls.

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to investigate brain function in menopausal depression by EEG mapping, as compared with menopausal syndrome patients without depression and normal controls, and to correlate neurophysiological with clinical and hormonal findings in order to elucidate the pathogenesis of depression in the menopause.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-nine menopausal women, aged 45-60 years, with no previous hormonal replacement therapy were investigated in regard to hormones (estradiol [E2], follicle stimulating hormone [FSH]), clinical symptomatology (Kupperman Index [KI], Hamilton depression score [HAMD]) and brain function (EEG mapping). Based on KI and DSM-III-R research criteria for major depression, 3 groups were available for statistics (after removal of protocol violators): group A had a KI of <15 and no depression (n = 29); group B had a KI of > or = 15 and no depression (n = 29) and group C had a KI of > or = 15 and fulfilled the criteria for major depression (n = 60).

[Climacteric arthralgia and hand arthrosis].

This study aimed at a possible classification of climacteric arthroses of the hand. 132 females suffering from arthralgias of the wrist and finger joints who had consulted our outpatient department originally because of climacteric complaints, were examined while asking them to complete a questionnaire with clinical criteria for classifying arthroses of the hand. The requisite number of criteria required for classification as ¿arthrosis of the hand¿ were attained in all three groups of females (premenopausal and postmenopausal women without operation, as well as hysterectomised and/or ovarectomised women¿, although the ex-ray showed no signs of degenerative arthritis.

Hysterectomy increases the symptomatology of postmenopausal syndrome.

The purpose of our investigation was to verify whether or not women who have undergone hysterectomy react differently to the menopause compared with women who have not. The study was performed in a prospective documentation on 203 women, and the assessments of discomforts were provided by the patients themselves using questionnaires. For statistical purposes, the Mann-Whitney test and chi 2 test were used.

Forearm bone density and grip strength in women after menopause, with and without estrogen replacement therapy.

Peaking in young adulthood, both bone mass and muscle strength decrease with ageing, but bone loss may accelerate after the menopause and can be delayed by estrogen replacement therapy (ERT). This study was designed to evaluate whether, like bone density, the muscle strength was affected by the onset of menopause and/or ERT. First grip strength (GS) of young female adults (group III; n = 18; age (+/- S.

The role of prolactin in the menopause.

Within a study on menopausal discomforts, 2322 women were seen for the first time at the Outpatients Department for Climacteric Disturbances and Prophylaxis of Osteoporosis at our clinic. Amongst routine hormonal examination we measured prolactin levels. We found hyperprolactinemia in 23 women.

Hormone replacement therapy: lipid responses to continuous combined oestrogen and progestogen versus oestrogen monotherapy.

Fifty-five postmenopausal women with climacteric complaints were randomly assigned to treatment with either 2 mg oestradiol valerate (E2V) (cyclic regimen: 21 days of treatment followed by a 7-day treatment-free interval), or 2 mg E2V combined with 1 mg cyproterone acetate (E2V+CPA) daily, over a 6-month period. Treatment was by the oral route in both cases. The aim was to compare the influence of these two hormone replacement therapy regimens on lipid metabolism.

[Bone density before and after the hormonal therapy of young women with hypergonadotropic hypogonadal amenorrhea].

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry of bone density in the lumbar vertebral column was performed in 32 young women (mean age 24.6 [19-34] years) with hypergonadotropic hypogonadal amenorrhoea. There was a significantly lower bone density (0.