Thursday, July 17, 2008

Menopause Related Sleep Problems

Two New Studies Analyze Menopause-Related Sleep Problems: "Two studies in the July 1 issue of the journal Sleep analyze menopausal sleep problems, finding that complaints may differ according to the stage of menopausal transition and the ethnicity of the woman, and identifying risk factors that may predict sleep problems at any stage of menopause.

A multi-ethnic study of more than 3,000 women shows that the odds of having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep increase through the menopausal transition. In contrast, the odds of having early-morning awakenings decrease from late perimenopause to postmenopause."

The study also found ethnic differences in the self-reported sleep problems. Caucasian women had higher rates of difficulty staying asleep, while Hispanics had lower rates of both difficulty staying asleep and early-morning awakenings. No ethnic differences were observed for trouble falling asleep.

Risk factors for poor sleep quality were hot flashes, depressive symptoms and lower levels of the hormone inhibin B, which declines quickly in the early menopausal transition. Sleep quality was not predicted, however, by menopausal status.

Findings were inconclusive regarding the potential benefits of hormonal therapy.

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