View clinical trials related to Estrogen Deficiency.
Filter by:Complaints about memory and thinking are common in women as they go through menopause. The female hormone estrogen is important for both the health of both the brain and the blood vessels. In Alzheimer's disease there is damage to the blood vessels in the brain. This study will look at how the loss of the female hormone estrogen affects brain function and the health of blood vessels.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether low estrogen levels in young women with hypothalamic amenorrhea (premenopausal HypoE) is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For this study, the investigators will measuring vascular function and immune markers on: - young women with hypothalamic amenorrhea (>3 months of no menstrual cycle due to low estrogen) - young women with regular menstrual cycles not on hormone therapy. - recently menopausal women (<3 years from final menstrual period) not on hormone therapy. Premenopausal HypoE participants will then be randomized to use either an estrogen patch or a placebo patch (no active medicine) for 3 months, followed by estrogen or placebo patch plus progesterone or placebo pills for 2 additional weeks. The investigators are looking to see if estrogen improves vascular and immune function.
For unexplained reasons, young premenopausal women with heart disease have twice the rate of death compared to men of the same age. Animal experiments have shown that stress can reduce ovary function in females monkeys due to reductions in brain hormones. This stress and reduced brain hormone levels lead to low estrogen levels and can cause menstrual cycles to become irregular, leading to reductions in fertility. These monkeys are also more likely to develop heart disease. In order, to better understand this relationship the investigators would like to study estrogen levels in premenopausal women with heart disease. Premenopausal women who have recently undergone a study of their coronary (heart) arteries will have their blood hormone levels measured over one menstrual cycle. The investigators will correlate the blood hormone levels with coronary angiography results and with other markers of heart disease, such as a test that uses noninvasive, painless ultrasound waves to study the thickness of the arteries in the neck (carotid arteries). In addition blood cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels and other blood tests have been shown to correlate with heart disease will be measured. Another aim of the study is to evaluate a potential link between environmental stress and hormone levels. Each patient will be given multiple questionnaires to evaluate stress, anxiety and depression and the investigators will be measuring the stress hormone (cortisol) levels in saliva for additional information. The results of the study will further explore a possible link between low estrogen levels and heart disease in young premenopausal women and help pave the way for larger research studies to define better ways of preventing heart disease in these women.