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| |  ACOG: Adding Androgen To Estrogen Therapy Can Yield Benefits Postmenopause NEW ORLEANS, LA -- May 12, 1998 -- Adding small amounts of androgen to estrogen replacement therapy can restore failing libido, resolve persistent hot flashes and increase bone density, all side effects of menopause that can affect quality of life and health for millions of postmenopausal women. These findings and others were presented today at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting in New Orleans. The findings were originally presented at the XV FIGO World Congress of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Copenhagen, Denmark, last year. Androgens are hormones produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands that act on the musculoskeletal, nervous, hepatic and vascular tissues. In adult women, androgens have long been known to play a key role in sexuality and the prevention of bone loss. Like estrogen, androgen production drops significantly after menopause. Yet the impact of postmenopausal androgen decline has been far less studied than that of estrogen. "More and more, we are understanding how hormone replacement therapy [HRT] needs to be individualized according to each woman's symptoms. Now that we have more choices, it's easier for patients and physicians to find the correct treatment in order to fulfil the needs of each woman," said Dr. Lila Nachtigall, moderator of the symposium, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York University School of Medicine and director of the Women's Wellness Center in New York, N.Y. "HRT requires weighing the risks, benefits and symptoms for each patient. For example, for some women estrogen/androgen therapy may be their best option in finding relief from their individual symptoms." "Studies have shown that estrogen/androgen combination therapy helps lower cholesterol levels in postmenopausal women," said Morris Notelovitz, M.D., Ph.D., founder and president of Emeritus Women's Medical and Diagnostic Center, Inc., Gainesville, FL. "Women who took estrogen/androgen therapy showed decreased levels of low-density lipoprotein [LDL], high-density lipoprotein [HDL] and triglycerides." In his presentation, Notelovitz also compared the long-term effects of oral estrogen/androgen therapy to oral estrogen alone in surgically menopausal women. "The ovaries continue to secrete minute amounts of androgens even after menopause. Women who have undergone oophorectomy-hysterectomy [surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries] have even lower androgen levels than do women in natural menopause," he said. "Surgically menopausal women -- frequently younger and less prepared for the onset of menopause symptoms -- may go untreated." In his presentation, he discussed study results that showed that surgically menopausal women experienced improvements in menopausal symptoms, the prevention of bone loss and lipoprotein profiles when taking Notelovitz cited other potential benefits of estrogen/androgen therapy, including improvements in insomnia, hot flashes, vaginal dryness and prevention of bone loss. Postmenopausal women are at increased risk for osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease that can cripple and shorten life expectancy. Oral estrogen taken after menopause has been proven to slow bone loss. But in several studies involving both postmenopausal and surgically menopausal women, estrogen plus androgen therapy was shown to not only slow bone loss, but also to stimulate bone formation. In one study of surgically menopausal women, oral estrogen/androgen therapy significantly increased spinal bone mineral density, particularly in women who had not taken HRT in the previous two years.
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