New treatments for menopause: still not that helpful

Interesting article in the New York times on new therapies for menopause, including anti-depressants, anti-hypertensives, and anti-seizure drugs. While these drugs seem to show some promise when it comes to helping hot flashes, none of them come close to hormones. How frustrating! What are we supposed to offer to women to help them? Especially when hormone therapy has fallen out of such favor that even though most women could probably take a short course of hormones to help with the hot flashes during the worst of it, very few of them want hormones in the first place now. (Not that I’m pushing hormones, but during the most accute phase of the menopausal transition, hormones for a few months, or even a year or two, might make an enormous difference in a woman’s quality of life).

I’ve put this on my reading list for the summer. It was recommended by the professor who lectured us on menopause, and I definitely need to learn more about menopause. Thank goodness summer reading is almost here!! But ughhh, still three exams, one final research project and one take-home exam to go.