2
or teardrop-shaped pieces of skin and acanthosis nigricans or patches of rough brown to black skin. For more information, visit http://www.asrm. org/ or http://www.pcostrategies.org/. Women Want Advice Regarding Alterative Menopause Therapies W omen want information from their health care providers about menopause alternatives but per- ceive their providers as unwilling to talk about alternatives with them, according to a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University and presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) in Washington, DC. The survey gathered information about women’s experiences with menopause symptoms, familiarity with research developments such as the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) results, use and perceptions of pre- scription and alternative treatment options and interactions with health professionals around these issues. The WHI results initiated a 74 percent decrease in prescriptions for Prempro and other forms of estrogen in 2003, leaving many women looking for alter- natives for symptom relief. The survey yielded rich insight into what women are currently using to relieve menopause symptoms and the factors that influence treatment decisions. The survey found: • Nearly as many women (29 percent) have taken herbal or soy remedies as those taking hormone therapy (HT) (35 percent), and almost half of HT users have tried alternative supplements to ease their menopause symptoms • Of the women surveyed, 43 percent either consider herbal and soy products helpful or are increasingly curious about their use for relieving menopause symptoms • A vast majority of premenopausal (91 percent) and peri-/ postmenopausal women (80 percent) had not discussed herbal products with their health care providers • Only half (53 percent) of peri-/ postmenopausal women taking December 2004 | January 2005 AWHONN Lifelines 501 Scare Tactics Harmful in Violence Prevention P rograms that rely on “scare tactics” to prevent children and adolescents from engaging in violent behavior are not only ineffective, but may actually make the problem worse, according to an independent state-of-the- science panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The panel found that group detention centers, boot camps and other “get tough” programs often exacerbate problems by grouping young people with delinquent tendencies, where the more sophisticated instruct the more naive. Similarly, the practice of transferring juveniles to the adult judicial system can be counterproductive, resulting in greater violence among incarcerated youth. The panel highlighted two programs that are clearly effective in reducing arrests and out-of-home placements: • Functional Family Therapy • Multisystemic Therapy Among the important characteristics that these programs have in common are a focus on developing social competency skills, a long-term approach and family involvement.

Women Want Advice Regarding Alterative Menopause Therapies

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Page 1: Women Want Advice Regarding Alterative Menopause Therapies

or teardrop-shaped pieces of skin and

acanthosis nigricans or patches of

rough brown to black skin. For more

information, visit http://www.asrm.

org/ or http://www.pcostrategies.org/.

Women Want AdviceRegarding AlterativeMenopause Therapies

Women want information from

their health care providers

about menopause alternatives but per-

ceive their providers as unwilling to

talk about alternatives with them,

according to a study conducted by

researchers at Stanford University and

presented at the 15th Annual Meeting

of the North American Menopause

Society (NAMS) in Washington, DC.

The survey gathered information

about women’s experiences with

menopause symptoms, familiarity with

research developments such as the

Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)

results, use and perceptions of pre-

scription and alternative treatment

options and interactions with health

professionals around these issues. The

WHI results initiated a 74 percent

decrease in prescriptions for Prempro

and other forms of estrogen in 2003,

leaving many women looking for alter-

natives for symptom relief. The survey

yielded rich insight into what women

are currently using to relieve

menopause symptoms and the factors

that influence treatment decisions. The

survey found:

• Nearly as many women (29 percent)

have taken herbal or soy remedies as

those taking hormone therapy (HT)

(35 percent), and almost half of HT

users have tried alternative

supplements to ease their

menopause symptoms

• Of the women surveyed, 43 percent

either consider herbal and soy

products helpful or are increasingly

curious about their use for relieving

menopause symptoms

• A vast majority of premenopausal

(91 percent) and peri-/

postmenopausal women (80

percent) had not discussed herbal

products with their health care

providers

• Only half (53 percent) of peri-/

postmenopausal women taking

December 2004 | January 2005 AWHONN Lifelines 501

Scare Tactics Harmful in Violence Prevention

Programs that rely on “scare tactics” to prevent children and adolescents

from engaging in violent behavior are not only ineffective, but may

actually make the problem worse, according to an independent state-of-the-

science panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The panel found that group detention centers, boot camps and other “get

tough” programs often exacerbate problems by grouping young people with

delinquent tendencies, where the more sophisticated instruct the more naive.

Similarly, the practice of transferring juveniles to the adult judicial system can

be counterproductive, resulting in greater violence among incarcerated youth.

The panel highlighted two programs that are clearly effective in reducing

arrests and out-of-home placements:

• Functional Family Therapy

• Multisystemic Therapy

Among the important characteristics that these programs have in common

are a focus on developing social competency skills, a long-term approach and

family involvement.

Page 2: Women Want Advice Regarding Alterative Menopause Therapies

herbal supplements had disclosed

their use to their health care

providers

• Approximately 30 percent of past

and current HT users were

frustrated that their health care

providers didn’t provide enough

information about herbal and

dietary supplements to relieve

menopause symptoms

The findings related to safety percep-

tions about herbal products amplified

the lack of provider-patient communi-

cation. While proven safety was the

most important factor when women

consider herbal products, more than

70 percent of women expressed at least

some concern or uncertainty about the

safety of these products. In addition,

women aware of the Women’s Health

Initiative were much more likely to

have stopped taking estrogen.

The survey reflects the increasing

number of women who are using

alternative medicine to relieve

menopause symptoms but doing so

without professional guidance. The

authors call for more education for

women about menopause symptom

treatments, including herbal therapies

and HT risks.

Actonel ReducesFracture Risk inOsteopenia

Anew analysis shows that

Actonel (risedronate sodium

tablets) treatment up to three years

significantly reduces the risk of verte-

bral and nonvertebral fragility fracture

by 75 percent in postmenopausal

women with osteopenia. These data

were presented recently at The NAMS

annual meeting.

“Postmenopausal women with a

bone mineral density (BMD) score

above the osteoporosis threshold could

still be at risk of fracture since other

factors besides low BMD contribute to

fracture risk,” said Dr. James A. Simon,

502 AWHONN Lifelines Volume 8 Issue 6

Reducing Maternal Death Worldwide

Every minute of every day, at least one woman in a developing country

dies in childbirth—more than half a million each year. To reduce

maternal deaths, the World Health Organization and the Partnership for

Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health are intensifying support to countries

around the world to ensure that a woman does not die while giving birth to

her child.

The needs are wide ranging—from training skilled birth attendants who

can help a woman give birth safely, to the very basic issue of recording the

cause of a woman’s death. WHO estimates that maternal deaths are underre-

ported by as much as 50 percent because deaths are not classified correctly,

or more often, not counted at all. In 62 countries of the world, there are no

maternal mortality data whatsoever.

Calling the maternal deaths an invisible epidemic, experts affirmed that

pregnancy is a normal state of health and that women should not die giving

birth.

While the main causes of maternal deaths are hemorrhage, infection,

hypertensive disorders, obstructed labor and unsafe abortion, the funda-

mental reasons for the continuing crisis are unavailable, inaccessible or

poor-quality care. The effects are tragically amplified, as some 1 million chil-

dren are left motherless each year. These children are 10 times more likely to

die in childhood than children whose mothers have not died.

Maternal mortality shows a stark divide between rich and poor countries.

In some developing regions, a woman has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in preg-

nancy and childbirth. This compares with a 1 in 2,800 risk for a woman

from a developed region. Sub-Saharan Africa and central south Asia, in par-

ticular, suffer high rates of maternal death. The risk of dying in pregnancy in

the world’s poorest countries is over a hundred times higher than in the

richest ones.

“Beyond the Numbers—Reviewing Maternal Deaths and Complications

to Make Pregnancy Safer” is the new focus for WHO regional and country

offices and partners from more than 20 regional and international agencies,

including UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank. This program includes

training health planners and providers in high-risk countries and regions in

the use of six methods to gather information upon which to base actions:

verbal autopsies, reviewing deaths in the community, health facility–based

reviews, confidential inquiries, near-miss case reviews and clinical audit.