Women urged to use menopause treatments carefully

• American women may be overusing treatments for symptoms of menopause, including hormone therapies that can pose a risk, a National Institutes of Health consensus panel said Wednesday.
• "For women who don't have very serious symptoms, waiting it out may be the best strategy," said Dr. Carol M. Mangione, of the University of California, Los Angeles.
• "We found very few symptoms that are tied to the natural fluctuations in hormone levels during menopause, and this distinction may have serious implications for women's treatment decisions," said panel chairwoman Mangione.
• Hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness are strongly associated with menopause, and there is also evidence linking sleep disturbances, the panel reported.
• Studies were mixed as to whether urinary incontinence was a symptom of menopause.
• While hormone therapy can be effective for women with severe menopause symptoms, these treatments may have serious side effects that should be carefully considered, the panel said.
• The group complained that little is known about the effects of some alternative therapies and called for further study.
• For years, hormone replacement therapy was offered as an effective treatment for such symptoms as hot flashes and night sweats.
• Use of hormones plummeted after 2002, when a major study found hormone therapy slightly increased users' risks of heart attack, stroke and breast cancer.
• But as many as one-fourth of women who stopped using the hormones returned to them because of debilitating symptoms.
• The group sought to determine the best and safest treatment, Mangione said, but "there isn't really a best treatment that we could identify."
• The 12-member panel was asked by the NIH to review the status of menopause treatment.
• They noted their statement is that of an independent body.