Hormone Therapy News

Several states across the country have introduced or are considering legislation that would prohibit medical treatment for children who may be transgender, including the use of pubertal blockers, a trend that has alarmed clinicians who say such bills reflect widespread misunderstandings and go against evidence-based practices.

A once-weekly injection of the long-acting human growth hormone derivative somapacitan was associated with improvements in truncal and visceral fat and lean body mass that were similar to daily GH treatment among a cohort of adults with GH deficiency, according to findings published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

The FDA recently approved Twirla, a weekly contraceptive patch containing 30 mcg ethinyl estradiol and 120 mcg levonorgestrel, for women of reproductive age with a BMI less than 30 kg/m2 and for whom a combined hormonal contraceptive is appropriate, its manufacturer announced in a press release.

In a large prospective cohort of postmenopausal women, those who had ever had hypothyroidism — whether treated with levothyroxine or not — were less likely to develop breast cancer than those without hypothyroidism, and the relationship was more pronounced among those who did not also use menopausal hormone therapy, according to findings published in Thyroid.

Prolonged use of menopausal hormone therapy is associated with high skeletal muscle mass and a low prevalence of sarcopenia among postmenopausal women, according to findings published in Menopause.

Among healthy, postmenopausal women, hormone therapy with oral conjugated equine estrogens — compared with transdermal estradiol or no hormone therapy — may slow the adverse effects of heart fat accumulation on carotid intima-media thickness , according to an analysis of the KEEPS study published in Menopause.

Symptoms associated with menstruation look different for every woman, and surgical options are available for some of the most serious or bothersome. But for those on the cusp of menopause, deciding whether to undergo surgery or even a hysterectomy can be difficult.

The oral gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist elagolix substantially decreased excessive menstrual bleeding for women with uterine fibroids, according to findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

In 2019, Healio readers were interested in fertility preservation for men on testosterone therapy, the wonders of metformin, possible associations between statins and diabetes, a new osteoporosis drug and more. 

Proper care for transgender individuals begins with provider education and recognition that gender incongruence is not primarily a mental health condition, according to a clinical practice update published in The New England Journal of Medicine.