Efficacy and tolerability of moexipril and nitrendipine in postmenopausal women with hypertension

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of the new angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor moexipril and the calcium antagonist nitrendipine in postmenopausal women with mild to moderate hypertension. Methods: After a 4-week placebo run-in period, 93 postmenopausal women (age range 44–70 years) with primary hypertension were randomized to receive moexipril 15 mg once daily or nitrendipine 20 mg once daily for 8 weeks. The mean sitting systolic (SSBP) and sitting diastolic blood pressures (SDBP) at baseline were 161.3/103.0 mmHg in the moexipril group, and 162.2/102.3 mmHg in the nitrendipine group. Results: After the 8 weeks of treatment, the SSBP/SDBP reductions were −21.2/−15.2 mmHg in the moexipril group and −18.2/−13.6 mmHg in the nitrendipine group. Blood pressure responses were adequate in 82.2% of the moexipril-treated patients and in 80.9% in the nitrendipine-treated group. Adverse events were more frequent with nitrendipine than with moexipril. The most common adverse events in the nitrendipine group were headache (23.4%), flushing (21.3%) and ankle oedema (14.9%). In the moexipril group the most common adverse event was cough (8.9%). Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that moexipril and nitrendipine are equieffective in the given dosages. In the patient population of postmenopausal women, the ACE inhibitor moexipril appears to have an advantage over the calcium antagonist nitrendipine with regard to tolerability. Received: 5 June 1998 / Accepted in revised form: 15 January 1999     

A menopause-specific quality of life questionnaire: development and psychometric properties

Objective:

to develop a condition-specific quality of life questionnaire for the menopause with documented psychometric properties, based on women's experience. Methods: Subjects: Women 2–7 years post-menopause with a uterus and not currently on hormone replacement therapy. Questionnaire development: A list of 106 menopause symptoms was reduced using the importance score method. Replies to the item-reduction questionnaire from 88 women resulted in a 30-item questionnaire with four domains, vasomotor, physical, psychosocial and sexual, and a global quality of life question. Psychometric properties: A separate sample of 20 women was used to determine face validity, and a panel of experts was used to confirm content validity. Reliability, responsiveness and construct validity were determined within the context of a randomized controlled trial.Construct validation involved comparison with the Neugarten and Kraines' Somatic, Psychosomatic and Psychologic subscales, the reported intensity of hot flushes, the General Well-Being Schedule, Channon and Ballinger's Vaginal Symptoms Score and Libido Index, and the Life Satisfaction Index.

Results:

The face validity score was 4.7 out of a possible 5. Content validity was confirmed. Test-retest reliability measures, using intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.81, 0.79, 0.70 and 0.55 for the physical, psychosocial, sexual domains and the quality of life question. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the vasomotor domain was 0.37 but there is evidence of systematic change. Discriminative construct validity showed correlation coefficients of 0.69 for the physical domain, 0.66 and 0.40 for the vasomotor domain, 0.65 and −0.71 for the psychosocial domain, 0.48 and 0.38 for the sexual domain, and 0.57 for the quality of life question. Evaluative construct validity showed correlation coefficients of 0.60 for the physical domain, 0.28 for the vasomotor domain, 0.55 and −0.54 for the psychosocial domain, 0.54 and 0.32 for the sexual domain, and 0.12 for the quality of life question. Responsiveness scores ranged from 0.78 to 1.34.

Conclusions:

The MENQOL (Menopause-Specific Quality of Life) questionnaire is a self-administered instrument which functions well in differentiating between women according to their quality of life and in measuring changes in their quality of life.     

138例已绝经与未绝经子宫内膜癌患者临床病理分析

目的 回顾研究已绝经与未绝经子宫内膜癌的病理分型,组织分级和手术病理分期等.方法 分析1987年1月～1996年12月上海第一妇婴保健院收治的138例子宫内膜癌患者,其中已绝经者93例,未绝经者45例.所有的病人都进行了分段诊刮,134例经过手术治疗.标本均进行了病理诊断,并根据1988年FIGO标准进行分期,所得资料用X~2Fisher’s exact test分析.结果 已绝经组与未绝经组比较,早期患者(IaG_1)比例明显偏低,分别占6%与32%.(P<0.001).G_2、G_3和非内胰腺癌的发生率是高的,分别是71%和51%(P<0.05).Ⅰc、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ期所占的比例较大,分别是40%和30%(P<0.001).五年生存率:已绝经组为74.2%,未绝经组91.4%,两者比较有明显意义(P<0.05).结论 已绝经子宫内膜癌患者预后较未绝经者差与临床和病理特点有关.     

Relation between bone mineral content and clinical, hormonal and biochemical parameters in postmenopausal women

We studied factors related to bone mass after a natural or surgical menopause in 73 healthy women attending the menopause clinic of a university hospital. In the natural menopause group we found inverse correlations between bone mineral density (BMD) vs. menopausal duration; BMD vs. body mass index (BMI) and BMI vs. inorganic phosphate (Pi), borderline correlations between weight vs. thyroxin (T4) and weight vs. luteinising hormone (LH) and a positive correlation between androstenedione (D4A) vs. urinary calcium (Uca). In the surgical menopause group we found some negative correlations (BMD vs. menopausal duration, BMI vs. Pi; BMI vs. dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DS), weight vs. DS and cortisol vs. Uca) and some positive correlations (BMD vs. free testosterone (fT), BMD vs. calcium (Ca), and BMD vs. Uca). We concluded that the serum hormone levels we measured were not useful markers of current bone mineral status. Received: 3 January 1997 / Accepted: 3 January 1997     

戊炔雌三醇补充治疗对绝经后高胆固醇血症妇女脂蛋白、瘦素及性激素水平的影响

目的 :探讨绝经后高胆固醇血症妇女经戊炔雌三醇补充治疗后血中脂蛋白、瘦素 (leptin)及性激素水平的改变。方法 :选择 4 6例绝经后高胆固醇血症的妇女 ,给予戊炔雌三醇 2mg,1次 / 2周 ,甲羟孕酮 (安宫黄体酮 ) 2mg ,1次 /隔日治疗。于治疗后 3个月、6个月测定空腹血中胆固醇、瘦素及性激素的值 ,并在治疗后 12个月、18个月、2 4个月、30个月、36个月继续监测胆固醇水平。结果 :治疗后 3个月、6个月与治疗前相比 ,血中高密度脂蛋白 (HDL C)显著升高 ,低密度脂蛋白 (LDL C)显著下降 ,总胆固醇 (TC)有所降低 ,但差异无显著性 ;体重及体重指数略有降低 ,差异无显著性 ,Lep tin水平治疗后稍有降低但差异无显著性 ;促卵泡生成激素 (FSH)和黄体生成素 (LH)均有明显下降 (P <0 .0 1)。治疗后18～ 36个月HDL C、LDL C、TC均处于基本稳定的水平 ,而甘油三脂 (TG)在整个治疗过程中基本无变化。结论 :戊炔雌三醇补充治疗对于具有高胆固醇血症的绝经妇女血清脂蛋白水平具有有益的影响     

倍美安与普伐他汀治疗绝经期妇女高脂血症的对比观察

目的:对比观察雌激素(倍美安)与降脂药(普伐他汀)对绝经期妇女高脂血症的调节作用.方法:选取136例绝经期后高脂血症女性病人(停经＞1年,近年来未服用雌激素类药物),随机分为两组:倍美安组69例,年龄47～67岁,平均55.9±6.8岁,用倍美安每日1片;普伐他汀组67例,年龄46～69岁,平均57.9±7.2岁,每日用普伐他汀10mg.两组均以28天为一疗程,连续应用6个疗程.治疗前、治疗第12周、24周后分别取血测定雌二醇(E2)、孕酮(P)、卵泡刺激素(FSH)、黄体生成素(LH)、血浆总胆固醇(TC)、甘油三脂(TG)、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇(HDL-C)、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(LDH-C).结果:倍美安组随着雌激素水平的上升,血脂水平明显下降(P＜0.05),普伐他汀组雌激素水平无变化,但血脂下降,下降水平低于雌激素组(P＜0.05).结论:绝经期高脂血症的发生与雌激素水平明显相关,单用雌激素即可显著降低血脂.     

绝经期乳腺癌妇女服用他莫昔芬后Ki-67及Bcl-2在子宫内膜中的表达

目的:评估绝经期乳腺癌妇女服用他莫昔芬(tamoxifen,TAM)后Ki-67及Bcl-2在子宫内膜中的表达。方法:46例绝经后因乳腺癌服用TAM超过6个月妇女的子宫内膜为研究组,行宫腔镜检查及内膜活检。18例因子宫脱垂行子宫切除的绝经后妇女的萎缩型子宫内膜为对照组。用免疫组化法测定Ki-67及Bcl-2在子宫内膜中的表达。结果:与对照组比较,Ki-67在TAM相关内膜腺上皮细胞呈显著高表达(15.41±4.83vs9.05±5.52,P=0.009);Bcl-2在TAM相关内膜腺上皮细胞呈较高表达,但与对照组比较无统计学差异(0.50±0.17vs0.43±0.11,P=0.077)。结论:绝经后乳腺癌妇女服用TAM能引起子宫内膜细胞增殖,但并不代偿性促进细胞凋亡,诱导细胞增殖是TAM对绝经后子宫内膜作用机理的一部分。     

电针"关元"与"三阴交"对围绝经期模型大鼠性激素及下丘脑βEP调整作用的比较

目的:探讨电针"关元""三阴交"对围绝经期模型大鼠神经内分泌的调整作用及二穴间相互影响.方法:复制大鼠去卵巢模型,测定电针各单穴及配伍后对模型大鼠血清雌二醇(E2)、促卵泡激素(FSH)、促黄体生成素(LH)、下丘脑β-EP、子宫脏器指数、子宫内膜厚度的影响.结果:电针能降低围绝经期模型大鼠血清LH、FSH含量,升高血清E2和下丘脑β-EP的含量,增加子宫脏器指数和子宫内膜厚度.在对下丘脑β-EP的影响上,二穴配伍作用强于任一单穴.结论:在对下丘脑β-EP的影响方面,"关元"与"三阴交"存在协同作用.     

Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by menopausal women: A systematic review of surveys

Large proportions of women have turned to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for relief from their menopausal symptoms. This highlights the need for more rigorous research into CAM. This article is aimed at critically reviewing surveys that examine the prevalence of CAM use by menopausal women worldwide. Eleven databases were searched for peer-reviewed surveys published in any language between 01 January 2000 and 27 October 2012. The bibliographies of the retrieved articles and relevant book chapters were also hand searched. Twenty-six surveys were identified, and they included a total of 32,465 menopausal women. The majority of these surveys were of poor methodological quality. Based on 6 surveys, 32.9% of women stated they were current/regular CAM users. Based on 9 surveys, 50.5% of women reported that they used CAM specifically for their menopausal symptoms. The average 12-month prevalence of CAM use was 47.7% (range: 33.1–56.2). Fifty-five percent of women did not disclose their use of CAM to their healthcare professional. The majority of women sought information about CAM from the media. The most popular CAM modality was herbal medicine, followed by soy/phytoestrogens, evening primrose oil, relaxation and yoga. There are a large number of predominantly low-quality surveys monitoring the prevalence of CAM use among menopausal women worldwide. The available evidence suggests that the prevalence of CAM use is high.     

Re-Evaluating the Medical Risk of Late Childbearing

A critical review of the scientific literature linking advanced maternal age to eight adverse pregnancy outcomes commonly believed to increase with advancing age revealed little support for the pessimistic medical view that late childbearing is necessarily riskier. Most studies (61% of the 104 studies reviewed) were seriously flawed methodologically, primarily by confounding age with other factors; many reached conclusions without statistical verification (29% of the studies reviewed). Results concerning the advantages or disadvantages of late childbearing were inconsistent as well. Evidence from the sound research studies strongly suggests that many of the adverse outcomes found by some researchers to increase at an older maternal age may be reflecting the particular circumstances surrounding late childbearing (altered medical management. pre-existing diseases, subfertility , unplanned pregnancy, high parity birth) rather than a biological condition of aging. Further research must move away from looking at maternal age as an isolated variable because of the temptation to impute causality to the factor when other associated factors are not controlled. A better understanding of the reproductive aging process is urgently needed.