Moderate-Severe Hot Flashes Significantly Increase Depression Risk

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - April 19, 2017 - PRLog -- A new study of more than 2,000 perimenopausal and menopausal women showed that moderate-severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes or night sweats) were an independent and significant risk factor for moderate-severe depression. Researchers explored the controversial link between hot flashes and depressive symptoms by focusing on more severe forms of both conditions and concluding that there is likely a common underlying cause, as reported in an article published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/). The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health (http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh) website until May 18, 2017.

Data presented in the article entitled "Moderate-Severe Vasomotor Symptoms Are Associated with Moderate-Severe Depressive Symptoms (http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jwh.2016.6142)," demonstrate that among a group of women ages 40-65, those with moderate-severe hot flashes were significantly more likely to have moderate-severe depression than women with no or mild vasomotor symptoms. Roisin Worsley, MBBS, Robin Bell, PhD, Pragya Gartoulla, Penelope Robinson, and Susan Davis, MBBS, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, found hot flashes, depressive symptoms, and use of antidepressant medication to be common in the age range of women included in the study. The researchers also examined whether or not moderate-severe depression was associated with a greater likelihood of psychotropic medication use, smoking, or binge drinking at least once a week.

"The results of this study shed further light on therapeutic findings, with both anti-depressant medication and estrogen therapy having the potential to improve hot flashes and mood," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.

About the Journal
Journal of Women's Health (http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh), published monthly,is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. Led by Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health, the Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women's healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women's Health (http://www.liebertpub.com/jwh) website. Journal of Women's Health is the official journal of the Academy of Women's Health (http://www.academyofwomenshealth.org/) and the Society for Women's Health Research.

About the Academy
Academy of Women's Health (http://www.academyofwomenshealth.org/) is an interdisciplinary, international association of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work across the broad field of women's health, providing its members with up-to-date advances and options in clinical care that will enable the best outcomes for their women patients. The Academy's focus includes the dissemination of translational research and evidence-based practices for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of women across the lifespan. Journal of Women's Health and the Academy of Women's Health are co-presenters of Women's Health 2017: The 25th Anniversary Congress (http://www.academyofwomenshealth.org/2017-congress) which will take place April 28-30, 2017 in Washington, DC.

About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/) is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including LGBT Health, Transgender Health, Population Health Management, and Breastfeeding Medicine. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com/) website.

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