Go-To Guide for Clinical Care of Midlife Women

In advance of their annual meeting next month and in celebration of their 25th anniversary, The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) recently published a 25-page document providing recommendations for caring for midlife women.

The guide provides clinical recommendations that are evidence-based and intended to include the most up-to-date information for managing a woman’s health through menopause. It was published in the society’s journal earlier this month and is available free online.

In Brief:

- NAMS has released a 25-page guide
on how to care for women during midlife.

- The document touches on myriad clinical areas, from physical changes to vitamin and Rx therapies.

- It can be viewed for free here.

The editorial panel included experts from a number of specialties that went beyond gynecologists. Medical and reproductive endocrinologists, cardiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, dermatologists, oncologists, and counselors were among those consulted.

Given the wide range of expertise, the guide includes brief recommendations that touch on physical body changes, urinary incontinence, risk factors for a number of diseases, necessary screening and diagnostic tests, as well as vitamin, supplement and hormone therapies.

"This very practical publication includes key points and recommendations for care on more than 50 important topics, including such key issues as vasomotor symptoms, osteoporosis, and genitourinary syndrome of menopause," said Margery Gass, MD, executive director of NAMS, in a news release touting the publication.

The guide also sought to grade the quality of the evidence supporting each recommendation so that good and consistent scientific evidence is distinguished between advice that is based on limited science or purely expert opinion.

References:

Shifren JL, Gass MLS, for the NAMS Recommendations for Clinical Care of Midlife Women Working Group. Special feature: The North American Menopause Society Recommendations for Clinical Care of Midlife Women. Menopause. 2014;21(10): DOI: 10.1097/gme.0000000000000319. Available at: http://www.menopause.org/docs/default-source/2014/nams-recomm-for-clinical-care. Accessed September 25, 2014.