Hormone therapy and sleep quality in women around menopause

Abstract

This study gives support to the suggestion that HT improves the quality of sleep. The effect was similar in women taking oral or transdermal therapy with or without progestins.

Predictors of sleep disturbance in menopausal transition

“…This explains why sleep disturbances in women using HT were not more frequent compared to premenopausal women in our study. Thus, as previously suggested [17,26,27], HT seems to have a place in the treatment of menopausal sleep disturbances.…”

Epidemiology of Insomnia: Prevalence and Risk Factors

“…Although the relationship between hormone levels and sleep is complex, it seems that there is a correlation between the decrease in circulating estrogens and progesterone and an increase of insomnia prevalence (Krystal, 2003). The decrease of complaints during hormone therapy may be an indicator that its occurrence is in part due to the fall of female sexual hormones that occur at menopause (Polo-Kantola et al, 1998;Sarti et al, 2005).…”

Hormonal Therapy after Menopause

“…Tibolone is a prodrug that rapidly converts after intake in the intestinal tract and liver to various metabolites that are systemically active as progestogen, androgen or estrogen. It has different actions on different target organs, which provide an overall favorable risk-benefit profile [14,19,23,26]. Clinically, tibolone treats menopausal symptoms, including hot flushes and vaginal dryness, as effectively as estrogen therapy, and, most importantly, improves sexual response, while having a positive effect on the bone [14,19].…”

“…The clinical examination should include a complete breast and gynecological examination [12]. It should pay special attention to the vulvovaginal trophism, including the measurement of vaginal pH, the pelvic floor tonus, which may indicate specific non-hormonal -besides topical hormonal - treatment to address urogenital and sexual co-morbidities [25,26] and the presence of painful vulvar, mid-vaginal and deep painful points (see also the sub-chapter on sexual pain disorders) [4,23,25]. Patients should be re-evaluated annually.…”

“…Autonomic disturbances such as hot flushes, sweating, insomnia and palpitations can be relieved by HT [2,[4][5][6][10][11][12]14,18,26]. Other symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, nervousness and depressed mood may be improved [2,[4][5][6][10][11][12]14,18].…”