Genitourinary syndrome of menopause … and other research

Abstract

Ann Robinson reviews the latest research Many women experience genitourinary symptoms during and after the menopause, but only in the past decade has the term genitourinary syndrome of menopause been used to describe the symptoms that result from falling oestrogen and androgen levels: dry vagina, painful and unfulfilling sex, low libido, urinary frequency, recurrent urinary tract infections, and labial and clitoral atrophy. Depending on who and how you ask, 13-87% of menopausal women report some degree of genitourinary syndrome of menopause. Unlike hot flushes, genitourinary syndrome of menopause doesn’t improve with age and often gets worse. This extensive systematic review looked at the effectiveness of vaginal oestrogen, non-oestrogen hormone therapies, and vaginal moisturisers for treatment of symptoms. It used eight core patient-reported outcomes that patients and clinicians agreed were most relevant. There was some evidence of modest benefit against placebo for vaginal oestrogen, the androgen dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), oral ospemifene (a selective oestrogen …