Mental Health News

CHICAGO — In this Healio video exclusive, Pauline M. Maki, PhD, provides three takeaways from her talk on cognition and hormone therapy during menopause at the Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society.

CHICAGO — Exposure to trauma was tied to increased measures of inflammation and neuronal death for Black women and accelerated brain age indicators regardless of race and ethnicity, researchers reported.

Aspects of PTSD across several dimensions were associated with menopause-related health in midlife women veterans such as urinary and vasomotor symptoms, vasomotor symptom interference and sexual dysfunction, researchers reported.

Current and prior heavy alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or opioid use were all independently associated with vasomotor, mood or musculoskeletal symptoms experienced during menopause, researchers reported.

Compared with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms have a stronger association with both psychological and somatic menopause symptoms, according to study results published in Menopause.

Cognition appeared associated with likelihood that individuals would return to work 2 years after breast cancer diagnosis, according to results of a case series study.

Women with vs. without intellectual and developmental disabilities have greater risks for stillbirth and other adverse obstetric, mental health and medical outcomes, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.

The Healio news staff received an APEX award in the category of Writing/Topics for work on the potential role of psychedelics and alternative therapies for mental health issues and other medical conditions.

Severe menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes and depressive mood, were associated with mild cognitive impairment for postmenopausal women, researchers reported in Menopause.

Currently, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is the gold standard treatment for sleep disturbances associated with menopause, and research is underway to better target neurons responsible for sleep disturbances.