Thank you for reading the October issue of Menopause!
In this issue, El Khoudary et al found that women experience significant increases in LDL subclasses during the menopausal transition and these are related to greater carotid intima-media thickness as well as greater coronary artery calcification. Whether intervention at this stage could make a difference for future health needs to be studied.
Most of the studies using estrogens are short term (less than 5 years), but Lorite et al describe a prospective longitudinal observational study where women who had a hysterectomy were followed for 20 years. The dose of estrogens given to the 56 women was reduced at age 60. There was a trend of a reduction in LDL and an increase in HDL; there was also an increase in T-score vertebral densitometry. Thus, the benefits were maintained over time along with a reduction in symptoms.
Most of us are engaged in educating the next generation of healthcare providers. Of concern are the results of the study by Allen et al where a survey was distributed to OB/GYN residency directors. 68% completed the survey. Only 31% have a standardized menopause curriculum and only 29% reported that trainees had dedicated time assigned to a menopause clinic. While the responses to the survey are not ideal, we can feel assured that program directors wish to have more resources to improve the educational experience.
Chat GPT has become an important part of our future no matter the field. It is also a universally acknowledged fact that it needs to be carefully monitored. Mutlu Sütcüoğlu and Güler have posed 25 questions to ChatGPT concerning premature ovarian insufficiency. 19 out of 25 received appropriate answers, but 5 were inappropriate although partially correct. Thus, we need to advise our patients to be mindful of their sources of information.
We are also proud to publish another Practice Pearl from The Menopause Society on the subject of reproductive risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women.
As usual, we learned a great deal as we put this issue together, and we hope you do too!
Isaac Schiff, MD, CM
Editor-in-Chief
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