More Individualized Treatment (NAPSA)—Doctors can now prescribe an estrogen patch that can be more easily customized to meet a woman’s individual need to protect her bones and prevent some of the more unpleasant symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved two new strengths of a popular hormone therapy that will continuously deliver a specific dose of plant-based estrogen every day in convenient once-a-week patches. The thin, transparent patches are easily affixed to the skin. They deliver the medication directly into the blood stream in a similar way as when it’s naturally produced in a woman’s body. “Having additional doses from which to choose will allow women to identify the lowest effective dose that relieves their menopausal symptoms, while still preventing bone loss,” says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine. “My patients tell me that applying a patch once-a-week is a convenient and easy way to comply with therapy.” Transdermal delivery has a favorable side effect profile, with low rates of nausea and gastrointestinal complications that may be associated with hormonepills. Estrogens should not be used by people with known or suspected pregnancy, breast cancer, estrogen-dependent neoplasia, undiagnosed abnormal genital bleeding, active thrombophlebitis or thromboembolic disorders. | Women now have a convenient and customizable way to combat symptoms of menopause. Climarais the only once-a-week estrogen therapy indicated for alleviating menopausal symptoms and for prevention of osteoporosis. For women with questions about menopause or osteoporosis, the North American Menopause Society has created a comprehensive guidebook designed to help women better understand the physical and emotional changes that occur during this time. Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Berlex Laboratories, makers of Climara, the Menopause Guidebook is available on www.menopause.org. Berlex did not influence anyofits contents. For more information about Climara, visit www.clearly climara.com.
