Menopausal hormone therapy and coronary heart disease: the roller-coaster history.

In the USA it is estimated that more than one million women become menopausal each year. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of mortality in menopausal woman globally. The majority of perimenopausal to postmenopausal women experience bothersome symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats, mood liability, sleep disturbances, irregular bleeding and sexual dysfunction. While menopausal hormone therapy (HT) effectively treats most of these symptoms, use of HT has become confusing, especially related to CHD risk. Despite years of observational and retrospective studies supporting a CHD benefit and improved survival among HT users, the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) and the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) raised doubts about this long-held premise. The timing hypothesis has since emerged and states that when HT is initiated in younger women, soon after menopause onset, there may be cardiovascular benefit. The following review discusses the roller-coaster history of HT use as it pertains to CHD in postmenopausal women. Studies that highlight HT's CHD benefit are reviewed and provide reassurance that HT utilized in appropriately selected younger postmenopausal women close to the onset of menopause is safe from a cardiovascular perspective, in line with consensus recommendations.

Preliminary study of health value as a moderator of the link between age and life satisfaction.

In the present study of the influence of health value as a potential moderator of age and life satisfaction. 157 undergraduate students (M = 20.8 yr.) completed a battery in which they provided demographic information and completed a number of different self report measures, including the Satisfaction With Life Scale and the Health Value Scale. A 2 (younger vs older) x 2 (high vs low health value) analysis of variance with life satisfaction as the dependent variable showed a significant man effect for health value and a significant interaction between age and health value but no man effect for age. These findings support health value as a moderator of the relation between age and psychological well-being. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

How the value of health moderates the link between age and depressive symptoms: further evidence.

To extend earlier findings, this pilot study explored the role of self-reported value of health as a moderator between age and scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. 157 undergraduate students completed the Health Value Scale and the Beck inventory. There was no significant main effect for age with scores on the Beck inventory; however, scores on the Health Value Scale and their interaction with age were significant contributors to scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. These results are consistent with earlier findings. Implications for research and development are discussed.