Expert opinion
Medical Professional to Medical Professional – Get Your Omega-3 Levels Tested
5 April 2017
19 July 2013
Post-menopausal women who take a combination of hormones plus calcium and vitamin D supplements may be better protected from hip fractures than with either therapy alone, suggests a new US study.
In the clinical trial, rates of hip fracture were compared between nearly 30,000 postmenopausal women who followed different therapies: among the participants – who took a hormone combination (estrogen plus a progestogen, required for women with a uterus), estrogen alone or a placebo – in addition, some 16,000 took supplemental calcium (1,000 mg/day) plus vitamin D (400 mg/day) or a placebo (1). The study results showed that women using both therapies (hormones plus supplements) were much better protected from hip fractures than with either therapy alone or no therapy (placebo). The benefit of hormone therapy was parti-cularly strong in women who had total calcium intakes (supplements plus diet) of greater than 1,200 mg/day. Similarly, the benefit was strong in women who had higher intakes of vitamin D, but the individual effect of each one could not be determined because the two supplements were given together.
The researchers concluded that women taking postmenopausal hormone therapy should also take supple-mental calcium and vitamin D. Although they could not specify how much, they noted that the benefits seem to increase with increasing total intake of calcium and vitamin D. This recommendation differs from that of the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), made earlier this year. The USPSTF stated that the current evidence is insufficient to recommend calcium and vitamin D supplements for the primary prevention of fractures in premenopausal women (2).
5 April 2017
1 February 2013
Sexual health is an essential factor in the quality of a woman’s life. But, depending on a woman’s phase in life, different aspects of sexual health will be more important to her: While women under the age of 20 in industrialized countries are particularly interested in reliable contraception, women between the ages of 20 and 45 shift their focus to reproductive health and maternity issues – i.e., pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. Fertility slowly diminishes with age. Usually, changes to the female cycle are the first signs of the climacterium – i.e. the phase of hormonal adjustment that ends with menopause. This is fol-lowed by the postmenopausal phase. The normal processes of aging bring changes that can influence sexual health. In every one of these life phases, a balanced, micronutrient-rich diet plays an important role in maintaining sexual health.
29 June 2012
According to a new Iranian study, vitamin C and E supplements may protect against increased oxidative stress in women taking oral contraceptives.