Original researchUse of alternative therapies for menopause symptoms: results of a population-based survey1 ☆,
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The study was conducted at Group Health Cooperative, a health maintenance organization that provides medical care to more than 43,000 women aged 50–80 years in western Washington. Data were gathered as part of a follow-up survey for the EnPower Workbook Trial, a randomized trial in which we assessed the impact of a workbook designed to help women make informed decisions about the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).15 We selected a simple random sample of 100 primary care providers with at
Results
A total of 886 women participated in the 6-month telephone survey (87.2% response rate after excluding ineligible women). Reasons for ineligibility included: language or hearing (16); out of town (eight); sampling error (employee or the spouse of an employee at our research center, or male sex, eight); disenrolled from Group Health Cooperative (six); deceased (four); too ill (three); and conflicting study (one). A mean of 5.8 calls were attempted to reach each of these 886 women, and the mean
Discussion
In this study of women aged 45–65 years, a large proportion of women reported using at least one type of alternative therapy to help them manage menopause symptoms. The most commonly used therapies were stress management, herbal, homeopathic, or naturopathic remedies or providers, and dietary soy products. Despite the widely held belief that natural approaches are superior to pharmacologic approaches for the management of menopause symptoms, many women were using HRT. These findings are
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Menopause
2023, Medical Clinics of North AmericaEffect of omega-3 supplements on vasomotor symptoms in menopausal women: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2018, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive BiologyCitation Excerpt :Both complementary and alternative therapies have been investigated to reduce hot flashes among menopausal women [17,18]. It seems that natural therapies are popular among menopausal women [19]. However, there is a lack of sufficient research on the risks and benefits of these approaches.
Effects of Gua Sha therapy on perimenopausal syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
2018, Complementary Therapies in Clinical PracticeYoga for menopausal symptoms—A systematic review and meta-analysis
2018, MaturitasCitation Excerpt :These symptoms often persist for several years post-menopause with considerable impact on quality of life of menopausal women [8]. To cope with these symptoms, many menopausal women use complementary therapies [9–14] and yoga is among the most commonly used complementary therapies for menopausal symptoms [10,11,13,14]. In North America and Europe, yoga is gaining increased popularity as a complementary therapy and is most often associated with physical postures (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation (dyana) [15].
Management of menopause in the breast cancer patient
2018, The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant DiseasesGua Sha therapy for treating perimenopausal syndrome: Protocol for a systematic review
2018, European Journal of Integrative Medicine
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This work was supported by contract number U48/CCU009654 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and by the Office of Women’s Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
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The authors wish to acknowledge Lou Grothaus for his biostatistical assistance.