日本女性医学学会は更年期障害から老年期の医学的諸問題まで思春期も含め女性の一生を通じ研究する医療従事者の団体です。

ORIGINAL
The Menopause Week 2011 questionnaire survey: coping with menopausal symptoms among users and non-users of hormone replacement therapy

Machi SUKA¹, Suguru IGARASHI ², Bunpei ISHIZUKA ²
1) Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, the Jikei University School of Medicine
2) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine

Summary
Objective: To examine the ways of coping with menopausal symptoms among users and non-users of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Methods: The Menopause Week 2011 questionnaire survey was conducted among women aged 45-55 years who were registered with an Internet survey company. The questions covered present and past experiences of menopausal symptoms (Simplified Menopausal Index), use of coping strategies (medical treatment, non-medical treatment, OTC drugs, and lifestyle), and average monthly payment to each coping strategy. The following three groups of respondents were compared in this study: 82 who received HRT (HRT group), 36 who received medical treatment without HRT (non-HRT group), and 181 who received no medical treatment (no treatment group).
Results: Those who have a ‘partner doctor’ and those who undergo regular health examinations were less frequently observed in the no treatment group (8.8% and 26.0%, respectively) than in the non-HRT group (52.8% and 47.2%, respectively) and the HRT group (53.7% and 42.7%, respectively). The improvement of menopausal symptoms from past to present was significantly greater in the HRT group. The average monthly payment for medical treatment of the HRT group was about 3,000 Japanese Yen.
Conclusions: To promote further improvements in women’s health, the significance of ‘partner doctor’ and the importance of regular health examinations should be appealed to general women. HRT may be a cost-effective coping strategy to control menopausal symptoms.

 
ORIGINAL A Comparing the Effects of Kamishoyosan or HRT on Climacteric Disorders in Postmenopausal Women : Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Affiliation
The Research Group for Climacteric Disorders；Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Tsuyoshi Higuchi, Kaori Iino, Ayako Tarakida, Kazuhiro Abe, Ryosuke Taniguchi, Hideki Mizunuma, Noheji Hospital, Yasunori Mikami, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hirosaki National Hospital, Seiichi Katagiri, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aomori City Hospital, Tetsuji Hashimoto, Hirosaki Female Clinic, Yutaka Hasuo、Hirosaki Ladies Clinic, Takeshi Matsuo, Fujimori Ladies Clinic, Yoshiaki Fujimori, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mutsu General Hospital, Yoshihiro Ogawa, Ono Ladies Clinic, Hiroshi Ono, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Odate Municipal General Hospital, Hidemi Takahashi, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tokyo Dental College Ichikawa General Hospital, Kiyoshi Takamatsu, Department of Gynecology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Noriaki Sakuragi, Primo Women’s Clinic, Shinichi Tanaka, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Yasunori Yoshimura, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Daisuke Aoki, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Takao Fukaya, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Graduate school of Medical Sciences, Kyusyu University, Norio Wake, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kyusyu Central Hospital, Masahiro Nozaki, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Akihiko Wakatsuki, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Naoki Kamiya

Author
The Research Group for Climacteric Disorders
Corresponding Author
Tsuyosi Higuchi
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hirosaki University School of Medicine

Summary
Objective; To compare effects of kamishoyosan(KSS), one of Japanese herbal medicines, with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on various symptoms of climacteric disorders.
Methods; Postmenopausal women aged 37-65 (mean±SD,51.9±5.2)years with climacteric disorders were divided into three groups randomly. Twenty-nine women received oral administration of KSS everyday, 24 women HRT using estrogens and 29 women both (KSS/HRT) for 8 weeks respectively. Twenty-one symptoms were assessed using the Climacteric Symptom Evaluation Form Checklist at baseline, 4 and 8 weeks after administration. The course of each symptom was distinguished as “improved”, “no changed” or “worsen”. We compared the numbers of improved cases among three groups.
Results; Eighty-two women were analyzed. There was no significant difference on the background among three groups. After eight weeks administration, the assessment of effects on each symptom indicated as below; “dizziness” was more improved in KSS compared with HRT, “hot flushes” and “sweat easily” in HRT compared with other two groups, “awake at night” and “tight feeling of chest” in KSS/HRT compared with other two groups significantly.
Conclusion; There were differences in effects on climacteric symptoms between KSS and HRT. It was suggested that grasping each climacteric symptoms was an important way to select effective medicines.