Washington Blade - October 19, 2001

NEW ORLEANS -- Two new studies have offered new information about perimenopause. Researchers of the Harvard Medical School in Boston reported at the 12th annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society in New Orleans that a history of depression is associated with an earlier onset of perimenopause, Reuters reported. Dr. Lee S. Cohen and colleagues followed 34 women aged 36 to 44 for three years and found that the "time to perimenopause was measurably shorter in the women with a history of depression," Cohen reported. According to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health, women are more likely to feel tense, depressed, and irritable during early perimenopause than before or after menopause, Reuters reported. Dr. Joyce T. Bromberger of the University of Pittsburgh surveyed 10,374 women, 40 to 55 years of age participating in a national study. The authors noted that 24.1 percent of women reported psychological distress. The highest rate, 28.9 percent was noted in early perimenopausal women. "These findings suggest that it is important to pay attention to mood symptoms of women in early perimenopause," Bromberger told Reuters. "Symptoms such as these do have the potential to develop into more serious problems."

Staph infections up in hospitalized HIV-positive men

CHICAGO -- A report published in the Oct. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases found that hospitalized HIV-infected men are nearly 17 times more likely to develop staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) than hospitalized men who are not HIV-infected, Reuters reported. Dr. John N. Sheagren and colleagues from the Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago reviewed the incidence of SAB among HIV-negative and HIV-positive hospitalized patients over a one-year period. Twenty-eight HIV-positive men and no HIV-positive women developed SAB, the researchers stated. The HIV-negative patients who developed SAB included 25 men and 24 women. "A better understanding of clinical factors associated with the development of SAB in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients will offer important opportunities for prevention of this frequent and potentially morbid and expensive complication," SheagrenÆs team wrote.

Factors linked to HIV-associated fat redistribution

BOSTON -- A study published in the Sept. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases found that dietary levels of fiber, alcohol, and polyunsaturated fat may influence the risk of fat redistribution in HIV-infected patients, Reuters reported. The new data "indicate a number of potential targets for dietary modification among patients with HIV infection and fat redistribution," lead author Dr. Collen Hadigan, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in the report. Eighty-five men and women with HIV infection and fat redistribution were examined for associations between dietary characteristics, body composition, and metabolic parameters. "Our data indicate that certain modifiable dietary components, such as polyunsaturated fat, fiber, and alcohol, are strongly associated with insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia among these patients," the authors wrote.

New mammogram signals earlier diagnosis

LONDON -- A new mammogram technique could lead to earlier diagnosis and improved survival rates for breast cancer patients, according to British researchers, Reuters reported. The new screening technique can detect lumps as small as 1 mm in diameter -- 10 times smaller than can normally be detected by current mammograms. "This is not a new X-ray machine. Instead, we carry out a mathematical analysis of a digital mammogram in the form of a computer program that models the passage of X-rays through breast cancer," Professor Michael Brady from the University of Oxford told Reuters. "Women are encouraged to carry out self-palpation, but most can only reliably detect a lump 7.5 mm or 10 mm across, at which point the tumor has been around for six years. We now plan to see whether we can detect much smaller lumps at an earlier stage of the disease." Brady and colleagues are currently testing the new technique in a trial involving 500 women that will also study the effects of hormone replacement therapy on breast cancer.

Douching increases bacterial vaginosis risk

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Recent douching among non-pregnant women increases the risk of bacterial vaginosis almost threefold, according to a report in the October issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Reuters reported. Dr. Claudia Holzman and a team from Michigan State University conducted a study of 496 women from three different healthcare clinics in central Michigan, analyzing vaginal smear and obtaining lifestyle and demographic data from questionnaires. Use of a vaginal douche before age 20, douching once or more per month in the past year, and use of a vaginal douche in the past two months were all associated with a significant increase in the prevalence of bacterial vaginosis.

At the various clinics, 45 percent to 70 percent of the women with bacterial vaginosis reported they were not experiencing vaginal symptoms.
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