GynoFiles

Classically it has been taught that estrogen excess, particularly what has been known as 'unopposed estrogen' (or hormone therapy with estrogen along) is the cause of uterine cancer. The theory that estrogen causes uterine cancer is being challenged. Inflammation, either in the body or in the uterus itself is now thought to be the more likely cause and a simpler strategy for reducing that cause would be to reduce inflammation. Uterine cancer is still the most common pelvic cancer in women. There are 60,000 new cases in the USA this year. The average woman has a lifetime risk of 1/38 of getting uterine cancer, which is considerably less than the 1/8 who get breast cancer, and double the 1/70 risk of ovarian cancer. .  Since risk factors for endometrial cancer, or lining cancer of the uterus (the most common type) include thicker lining of the uterus or uterine polyps, medical conditions listed as possible cause include diabetes, being over weight, and irregular periods, th...

Estrogen levels in a female are directly related to the fat in our waistline and around our gut. This is actually seen in research studies of menopausal women and some premenopausal women with health issues who have chronically low estrogen levels. Short term fluctuations in estrogen levels probably are not as important on weight or waistlines as long term disturbances or permanently entered into menopause. Healthy and slim premenopausal women do not seem to be as effected, at least by short periods of time of the estrogen deprivation. In addition to the fat accumulation, there is corresponding bone loss and muscle mass loss making one's body composition vastly different, and this in turn contributes to the slowing of metabolism. If the fat accumulation leads to obesity then obesity related fat accumulation in the diet increases the risk of complications such as diabetes, coronary artery disease and hypertension.

Estrogen is a powerful brain hormone and a modulator of neuron signaling in the female brain. Estrogen is beneficial for thought, verbal expression, and verbal memory as well as a host of other brain benefits including the response to stress . The way estrogen may be beneficial on the brain has just begun to be understood. Estrogens are thought to be both neurotrophic, meaning they recruit neurons to a task and neuroprotective, meaning they help the brain cells function well and have longer lives. Estrogens both can affect the membranes of the brain cells as well as the more fundamental function of brain neurons as there are estrogen receptors that are deeper within brain cells. Estrogen similarly interacts with other brain chemicals to help affect these actual brain functions including the cholinergic system which results in effects of brain estrogen on verbal learning and attention.In fact, menopausal women can have better preservation of some brain function if they are treated wi...

Non-hormonal vaginal health is the current buzz word. While estrogen therapy is fast, effective and safe for vaginal health through perimenopause and menopause, and the SERM Osphena appealing because of the benefits beyond vaginal health, it's the alternatives that are gaining traction current. The most shocking news yet is the finding that SSRI treatment can be beneficial for vaginal health. Since the introduction of Prozac, a medication that alters serotonin for the treatment of depression, there has been an expansion of the use of all of serotonin modulators for the treatment of a variety of conditions including sexual function, smoking cessation, and pain syndromes. When used in a study of hot flash treatment it was found that a short eight week course venlafaxine improved the vaginal dryness and pain of intercourse of sex and that it was even better than low dosage estrogen in this trial. Just improving mood and having more sex is also beneficial for vaginal health, so do no...

Endocervical Polyp In perimenoapsue and menopause taking estrogen can cause wide ranging side effects. However, the effects on the lining of the uterus is not one of the benefits. Estrogen can cause bleeding, spotting, polyps, precancer and even lining cancer of the uterus. In a new report we have found that rates of uterine cancers are going up. he study, published May 22, 2019 in the  Journal of Clinical Oncology  the information from NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to evaluate trends in uterine cancer incidence rates for women overall and by race and ethnicity, geographic region, and biologic subtype , and found more aggressive and what used to be rare types of cancers of the uterus are increasing.  Whether these things will occur will depend on many factors, including lifestyle, prior therapy, your diet , and your genetics. In the study it was thought that the biggest increases in uterine cancer, were due to cancers that ...

 Over a third of women born today will live beyond 100. To live well is to have a healthy brain, and a brain fueled by estrogen is healthiest brain a woman can grow. Healthy brains are fueled by glucose sugars, and the metabolism of those sugars is responsive to many factors, but significantly to estrogen. Our brain is learning, unlearning and rewiring at all times.   What Dr. Sandra Chapman of the University of Texas at Dallas refers to as either our brain is moving forward or moving backward. If you want the most brain power, to be an independent planner, decision-maker, with vigorous memory and problem-solving skills then we have to control our frontal lobe of our brain as that is where those functions occur. Frontal lobe networks help us plan our day, and by thinking ahead as to how you will do that as you read: you are improving your brain. There are the negative forces we have to work against. The brain loses about 2% of total blood flow over each decade of our l...

Painful sex, dry vaginal tissues, chronic urinary tract infections, all are due to the lack of estrogen as a woman ages through menopause. There are both medical and non-medical therapies for this condition. Women who have painful sex in menopause usually have the condition of atrophic vulvovaginitis ,or genital atrophy or what is more commonly known as the thinning of the vaginal walls due to menopausal changes. There are even pap tests to determine if this is the diagnosis, although your gyno can usuall y tell just by looking. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Feb of 2013 has approved ospemifene ( Osphena , Shionogi, Inc) for treating this condition of painful sex due to vaginal dryness also known as  dyspareunia in postmenopausal women. Dyspareunia, in younger women, can be caused by a number of conditions  yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, PID, STDs, or endometriosis. In menopausal women it is associated with declining levels of estrogen during meno...

Hot flashes (HF) bother sleep and lead menopausal women to have less restorative sleep. Insomnia from hot flashes can cause delayed time to sleep or night time awakening. Once you have poor sleep you are likely to report other symptoms of lack of sleep including: daytime fatigue or feeling poorly, lack of concentration or memory impairment, poor performance at work, irritability, day time sleepiness, lack of motivation, headaches or even stomach or bowel upset. Simple sleep deprivation doesn't usually cause distress, and is better tolerated, than sleep lost to actual insomnia. Most, but not all, sleep studies have shown that women with hot flashes get poor sleep. We get the most hot flashes in the first part of the night, and there is some relationship between when the flash occurs and when you will wake up. Sleep therefore, is essential for your immune system, your hormonal health, your moods, thinking and your weight! The more bothersome to you the more likely ...

Breast cancer prevention is best even though Breast cancer survival post diagnosis is common since treatment has been improved significantly. Women in the USA found to have a small breast cancer have very successful treatments, but then in other countries they are not so lucky. If you live in Uganda you have a 56% chance of dying of the disease but in the US the rate of mortality is about 20%. Estrogen is the most likely cause of breast cancer. It’s probably some sort of combination of genetics, exposure, diet, childbearing factors, and hormones that ultimately causes breast cancer. Delaying when you have children, not breastfeeding, being obese after menopause, and excessively drinking alcohol all increases your breast cancer risk. It may not be blood levels of estrogen, progesterone or testosterone, but the local levels of estrogen in the breast tissue itself. Regardless of whether its the blood levels or the local levels, it is the hormone estrogen that is the root cause of m...

Heart disease is the leading killer of women, and knowing your risk for heart disease is very important. By age 70 the risk of heart disease in women is equal to that of men. One way is to score your risk with either the Framingham score or use the Reynolds score.  And in part they suggest checking your blood levels of inflammation with tests such as the c-reactive protein so you can get a Reynolds score. NAMS , Top Ten menopause stories of 2008 , and Kudos to the Women's Health Practice research team for being involved in protecting women's hearts . And data is still coming out from that study. Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: An Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin : JUPITER . When the JUPITER trial results first appeared, it was said in the NY Times that this is a trial that would likely change the way doctors approach primary heart disease. The research took over 17,000 “apparently heart healthy” women and men  and were able to reduce...