MEDIA CONTACT: Andrew LaPlant
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FAU Professors Exploring the Effects of Menopause

BOCA RATON, FL (September 22, 2004) - Florida Atlantic University professors Dr. Susan Chase and Dr. Ellis Youngkin are looking into some surprising new information about hormone replacement therapy and its effect on the cardiovascular systems of women.

The month of September is Menopause Awareness Month, which is becoming increasingly more important since, according to the American Menopause Foundation, 1,500 women per day enter menopause in the United States. According to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, there were 39 million prescriptions for estrogen in 1992, up from 16 million in 1982. But, recent research shows that only 15 to 25 percent of currently eligible women use hormone replacement therapy.

The first wave of "Baby Boomer" women are now entering menopause. Following this initial wave, in the next decade, 20 million more women will reach the menopause stage. Prescribing hormones to postmenopausal women has been used for years, but new research has shown an increase in cardiovascular events for those receiving estrogen replacements in oral form.

"For years women and their health care providers thought that by replacing hormones they were providing protection from cardiovascular disease," said Chase, associate professor in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. "Based on recent research, we now know that women must protect themselves from heart disease, which is their number one killer, by directly reducing their risks. They must stop smoking, maintain optimal cholesterol and blood pressure levels, maintain a heart healthy diet and engage in approved exercise programs. A simple pill is not the answer."

Chase and Youngkin's findings will be published in an upcoming Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing issue.

-FAU-

For more information on Menopause, visit www.americanmenopause.org, or contact the American Menopause Foundation at 212- 714-2398 or menopause@earthlink.net.