Latest news with #oestrogen
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The bombshell new drug that could delay the menopause for years - or even eliminate it forever... but are you willing to put up with these side effects?
Whether women want it or not, they have little choice but to go through the menopause. Or do they? What if the menopause was something that could be delayed – or even eliminated altogether? That's what a handful of scientists believe could become a reality, with research teams worldwide exploring the various ways to achieve this. Menopause occurs around midlife, when the ovaries run out of functioning eggs – this leads to a natural decline in oestrogen levels, which starts a few years before the menopause during the perimenopausal period.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
HRT ‘can raise breast cancer risk' in younger women
Hormone replacement therapy can raise the risk of breast cancer in some younger women, a Lancet study suggests. An international team of researchers found the treatment was not linked to young onset breast cancer overall. But oestrogen plus progestin therapy appears to increase breast cancer risk by 10 per cent. Meanwhile, oestrogen hormone therapy use appeared to decrease breast cancer risk by 14 per cent. Hormone replacement therapy is a treatment used to help menopause symptoms. There are different types of HRT, which is used to treat menopause symptoms, available. They contain different hormones: some are oestrogen products; others contain progestogen and other types have both. These medicines can be taken or used in different ways and work by replacing the hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which can fall to lower levels as women approach the menopause. Most studies examining links between hormone therapy and breast cancer risk have been explored in older women. Previous work, which has focused on women who have already been through the menopause, suggest that oestrogen plus progestin hormone therapy is a risk factor for breast cancer. The researchers, led by academics from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the US, wanted to explore the risks among younger women on hormone therapy – who may take these drugs after gynaecological surgery or during perimenopause. The new meta-analysis published in the journal, Lancet Oncology, examined data drawn from previous studies of 459,476 women aged 16 to 54 years old. Some two per cent of this group (8,455) developed young-onset breast cancer, which means the disease was diagnosed before they were 55 years old. And 15 per cent of women involved in the study reported using hormone therapy, with oestrogen plus progestin hormone therapy and oestrogen being the most common types. 'Although the strength of these associations might vary by age at first use, duration of use, gynaecological surgery status, and other factors, unopposed oestrogen hormone therapy use appears to decrease breast cancer risk and oestrogen plus progestin therapy appears to increase breast cancer risk,' the authors wrote. 'The findings can be used to augment clinical recommendations for hormone therapy use in young women, for whom guidance was previously scarce.' Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, the head of research communications at Breast Cancer Now, said: 'These results are largely in line with what we already know about taking HRT for menopausal symptoms and its effects on breast cancer risk – for most people, the risk of developing breast cancer because of taking HRT is small and is outweighed by the benefits. 'Taking HRT is a very personal decision and, as such, it's vital that everyone has the information they need on the benefits and risks, discusses them with their GP or specialist team and is supported to make the choice that's right for them.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
RNZ News
16-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Pharmac to fund two oestrogen patches
Patients will be able to use either brand, "subject to availability". Photo: 123RF People who need oestrogen patches will have access to two brands free of charge from 1 December. Pharmac announced they had decided following consultation earlier this year to fund the oestradiol patches Estradot and Estradiol TDP Mylan. Patients will be able to use either brand, "subject to availability". Manager for pharmaceutical funding Adrienne Martin said the agency understood the importance for "people to have access to the treatment that works best for them". "We've heard very clearly from many people that while different brands of patches should work the same, this is not everyone's experience. "That's why we're funding two brands - so that people can access the oestradiol patches they need, depending on availability." From 1 December, the other currently funded brands of oestradiol patches will no longer be funded. The final decision followed a public backlash to Pharmac's decision in November to fund only the Mylan-brand, due to ongoing shortages of Estradot. More than 1300 people signed a petition calling on the government to keep the Estradot brand available on the basis the Mylan-brand was less effective in controlling menopausal symptoms. Martin said more than 1100 people responded to Pharmac's request for public feedback earlier this year. "We heard from people who wanted us to remove the patch limit and change the dispensing rules," said Martin. "We acknowledge how frustrating these limits are for people but changing or removing them would put pressure on demand, which would increase the risk of these patches not being available. "We will review the patch limit and dispensing rules in 12 months depending on the supply outlook." Pharmac would continue to monitor supply and work to ensure people can access the treatments they need, she said.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EastEnders star Jo Joyner, 48, fears menopause will affect her acting career amid her struggle with brain fog - following a secret hysterectomy
Jo Joyner has candidly opened up on having surgical menopause following a secret hysterectomy. The former EastEnders star, 48, revealed on Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast that she underwent a hysterectomy in the last few years because she had too much oestrogen, which resulted her getting early menopause. Surgical menopause occurs when both of your ovaries are removed using a surgical approach (called a bilateral oophorectomy)or when a hysterectomy removes the ovaries before you've gone through a natural menopause. This causes a sudden onset of the menopause after the surgery. Jo, who played Tanya Branning in the BBC soap, admitted she is 'scared' if the menopause will affect her acting career amid her struggle with brain fog. She explained: 'Part of the reason that I ended up having a full hysterectomy was because I had too much oestrogen. 'I had almost the opposite problem of most people. So I'm now a year past that, I have only just started to need to take oestrogen because my reserves are so big. Can you believe it?' She added: 'I think your average GP would have just thrown oestrogen at me with some of my symptoms. And actually it kind of doubled the problem. 'It wasn't until I did the Dutch hormone test mapping, which showed me a little arc of all my hormones. 'And I went, 'oh, my gosh, that makes sense'. I went to my naturopath and she said, I can't treat you. This oestrogen is off the chart. You need to go and see the doctor. There's something going on. And she was right. 'There was you know, Endo adenomyosis all of this was going on. But what it means is I'm a good year and a half past that and it's [menopause] all just starting to happen now. 'Literally yesterday I spent an entire day every time I walked into a room or a cupboard stood there thinking, I don't know what I've come here for. What did I come here for? 'Well, I don't know, but it amazes me how quick it can happen.' She added: 'Luckily it's not affecting my work. Luckily I can get my lines in. I think that must be scary when that starts happening. 'It's interesting because as I've got older, I'm in that area and I'm not 50 yet and I'm having a surgical menopause. So I'm kind of too young for this, I like to think.' Amid her busy work schedule, Jo - who stars in the upcoming Paramount show Little Disasters - went to a retreat for a week to rest and reset. She said she was recommended to go on the retreat by her former co-star and close friend Tamzin Outhwaite. Jo explained: 'It's been a funny old year. I had my surgeries and then I went off to Malta, and then I came back and went to Budapest in Richmond, and then I went straight into Shakespeare and Hathaway in the September. 'There was never more than a week or so between jobs. I was sort of spat out again at the end of February this year, after finishing Shakespeare and Hathaway. 'And I thought, well, it's time to take stock of this radical surgery that I've had and this menopause I must be in and all of that and have a bit of time for me. 'And inspired by our very own Tamzin Outhwaite, who's obviously got her own project, We Free Women, wonderful project for retreat. 'For women, inspired by her because she had been on retreats and a year previous when we were in Malta, she kept saying to me, 'you need to go on a retreat. You need to go and have some time for yourself to heal and look at your new body and see what it can do, you know?'. 'Still I was a year on and I still hadn't. I was pretty much exhausted, I will say. It felt incredibly indulgent and selfish. But I went away for a week to a retreat, my first ever retreat on my own.' WHAT IS A HYSTERECTOMY? A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove a woman's uterus. There are three kinds: The operation is most commonly performed on women between the ages of 40 and 49. More than 20 million American women have had a hysterectomy, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As women approach menopause, the odds that they will develop one of several serious uterine health conditions increases. Doctors may recommend a hysterectomy as a treatment for: fibroids endometriosis uterine (endometrial) cancer chronic uterine pain or bleeding collapsed uterus In some cases, doctors may suggest a hysterectomy as a preventative measure if a woman has significant warning or early signs of developing one or more of these conditions. When necessary, surgeons may also remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes, if these have also been damaged or are at serious risk of damage. The removal of reproductive organs sends a woman's body into menopause, no matter how old she is. This comes with unpleasant side effects like hot flashes, and many women have to start hormone therapy, taking estrogen to balance out their own hormones.
