Labor Productivity Of Women During Menopause

Labor Productivity Of Women During Menopause.
Women who decline harsh hot flashes during menopause may be less productive on the job and have a lower quality of life, a new muse about suggests. The study, by researchers from the drug maker is based on a survey of nearly 3300 US women old 40 to 75. Overall, women who reported severe hot flashes and evensong sweats had a dimmer view of their well-being. They also were more likely than women with milder symptoms to order the problem hindered them at work. The cost of that lost work productivity averaged more than $6500 over a year, the researchers estimated.

On finest of that women with severe hot flashes burnt- more on doctor visits - averaging almost $1000 in menopause-related appointments. Researcher Jennifer Whiteley and her colleagues reported the results online Feb 11, 2013 in the annual Menopause. It's not surprising that women with onerous hot flashes would visit the doctor more often, or report a bigger contact on their health and work productivity, said Dr Margery Gass, a gynecologist and superintendent director of the North American Menopause Society.

But she said the new findings put some numbers to the issue. "What's practical about this is that the authors tried to quantify the impact," Gass said, adding that it's always virtuousness to have hard data on how menopause symptoms affect women's lives. For women themselves, the findings give reassurance that the belongings they perceive in their lives are real. "This validates the experiences they are having".

Another gynecologist who reviewed the haunt pointed out many limitations, however. The research was based on an Internet survey, so the women who responded are a "self-selected" bunch, said Dr Michele Curtis, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Houston. And since it was a one-time view it provides only a snapshot of the women's perceptions at that time. "What if they were having a debased day? Or a safe day?" she said.

It's also ineluctable to know for sure that hot flashes were the cause of women's less-positive perceptions of their own health. "This tells us that unhappy hot flashes are a marker for feeling unhappy. But are they the cause?" Still, she commended the researchers for exasperating to estimate the impact of hot flashes with the data they had. "It's an compelling study, and these are important questions".

Losing Excess Weight May Help Middle-Aged Women To Reduce The Unpleasant Hot Flashes Accompanying Menopause

Losing Excess Weight May Help Middle-Aged Women To Reduce The Unpleasant Hot Flashes Accompanying Menopause.
Weight damage might helper middle-aged women who are overweight or stout reduce bothersome hot flashes accompanying menopause, according to a redone study. "We've known for some time that obesity affects hot flashes, but we didn't identify if losing weight would have any effect," said Dr Alison Huang, the study's author. "Now there is esteemed evidence losing weight can reduce hot flashes".

Study participants were part of an intensified lifestyle-intervention program designed to help them lose between 7 percent and 9 percent of their weight. Huang, aide-de-camp professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, said the findings could produce women with another reason to take control of their weight. "The message here is that there is something you can do about it (hot flashes)".

About one third of women sustain hot flashes for five years or more last menopause, "disrupting sleep, interfering with work and leisure activities, and exacerbating anxiety and depression," according to the study. The women in the research group met with experts in nutrition, exercise and behavior weekly for an hour and were encouraged to utilization at least 200 minutes a week and reduce caloric intake to 1200-1500 calories per day. They also got relief planning menus and choosing what kinds of foods to eat.

Women in a switch group received monthly group education classes for the earliest four months. Participants, including those in the control group, were asked to respond to a survey at the beginning of the contemplation and six months later to describe how bothersome hot flashes were for them in the past month on a five-point ranking with answers ranging from "not at all" to "extremely".

They were also asked about their daily exercise, caloric intake, and psychotic and physical functioning using instruments widely accepted in the medical field, said Huang. No correlation was found between any of these and a reduction in bosh flashes, but "reduction in weight, body mass index finger (BMI), and abdominal circumference were each associated with improvements" in reducing hot flashes, according to the study, published in the July 12 child of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Menopause Affects Women Differently

Menopause Affects Women Differently.
Women bothered by sensual flashes or other belongings of menopause have a number of treatment options - hormonal or not, according to updated guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It's estimated that anywhere from 50 percent to 82 percent of women thriving through menopause have simmering flashes - sudden feelings of extreme impetuosity in the upper body - and night sweats. For many, the symptoms are frequent and severe enough to cause beauty sleep problems and disrupt their daily lives.

And the duration of the misery can last from a couple years to more than a decade, says the college, the nation's unrivalled group of ob/gyns. "Menopausal symptoms are common, and can be very bothersome to women," said Dr Clarisa Gracia, who helped correspond the new guidelines. "Women should be aware that effective treatments are available to address these symptoms". The guidelines, published in the January problem of Obstetrics andamp; Gynecology, reinforce some longstanding advice: Hormone therapy, with estrogen unassisted or estrogen plus progestin, is the most effective way to cool hot flashes.

But they also offer out the growing evidence that some antidepressants can help an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In studies, unhappy doses of antidepressants such as venlafaxine (Effexor) and fluoxetine (Prozac) have helped rescue hot flashes in some women. And two other drugs - the anti-seizure sedative gabapentin and the blood pressure medication clonidine - can be effective, according to the guidelines.

So far, though, only one non-hormonal deaden is actually approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating bright flashes: a low-dose version of the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil). And experts said that while there is witness some hormone alternatives ease hot flashes, none works as well as estrogen and estrogen-progestin. "Unfortunately, many providers are nervous to prescribe hormones.

And a lot of the time, women are fearful," said Dr Patricia Sulak, an ob/gyn at Scott andamp; White Hospital in Temple, Texas, who was not knotty in letters the new guidelines. Years ago, doctors routinely prescribed hormone replacement remedy after menopause to lower women's risk of heart disease, among other things. But in 2002, a big US trial called the Women's Health Initiative found that women given estrogen-progestin pills in point of fact had slightly increased risks of blood clots, heart attack and breast cancer. "Use of hormones plummeted" after that.