You Don’t Have To Surrender To Menopause (NAPSA)—Menopauseis a nat- ural biological process that marks the end of a woman’s childbearing years. Menopause may also be induced as a result of a hysterectomy, as well as by chemotherapy and certain radiation therapies. Approximately 75 percent of women report some troublesome symptoms during menopause, though the severity and frequency of symptoms varies from woman to woman. These symptoms can include vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, hot flashes, mood swings and night sweats, among many others. The average woman enters menopause between the ages of 50 and 51, however, menopause can begin at any age. Forty-nine-year-old Anita Smith suffered for over a decade from the symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes and severe mood swings disrupted her life on a daily basis. Vaginal dryness and pain during intercourse caused Anita to feel both embarrassed and apathetic towards intimacy. Night sweats would often interrupt her sleep and although she had tried several types of hormone replacement therapies, no treatment effectively relieved all of her symptoms. “When I began to experience hot flashes and vaginal dryness, my symptomsput a lot of stress on my life and on myrelationship with my husband,” said Anita. “It became impossible to sleep through the night and my husband and I becamefrustrated with the vaginal symptomsand pain.” A new estrogen therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration and now available nationwide may help mil- Women now have a convenient method for treating the symptoms of menopause. lions of women combat the symptoms of menopause. Femring™ is the only vaginally delivered estrogen therapy that treats both the vaginal (dryness, painful intercourse) and vasomotor (hot flashes, night sweats) symptoms of menopause. A soft, flexible, self-inserted ring, the product delivers estrogen at a steady rate during a three-month dosing period. This treatment provides women with both relief from symptoms and convenience. “As womenget older, they want to remain physically and sexually active, and they don’t want to be slowed down by hot flashes and vaginal dryness,” said Susan Ballagh, M.D., assistant professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Eastern Virginia Medical School. As with all menopausal treatments, women should discuss the risks and benefits of hormone replacement with their doctor. For more information, call 1-800-521- 8813.
