Using sunlamp products such as tanning beds or tanning booths increases the risk of skin damage, skin cancer and eye injury, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and numerous other health organizations. A particularly dangerous result is melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

By Holly L. Thacker, M.D. In October 2013, the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) investigators published a comprehensive overview of findings from their two hormone therapy (HT) trials, including extended follow-up representing 13 years of cumulative data.1 When I analyzed this latest WHI report, I initially focused almost exclusively on the data presented in figures and tables within the article itself, as well as on supplemental data presented on the Internet.2 Only then did I read the…

One pharmaceutical company can now brag about a nonhormonal option to treat hot flashes during menopause.

Noven Therapeutics knows that's welcome news to scores of women who've developed a fear of hormone therapy following the increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer seen in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

But Brisdelle is just an old medication dressed up in a new feminine name and packaging – it's the antidepressant paroxetine, better known by its brand name, Paxil.

September is Women in Medicine Month. The Cleveland Clinic's Women's Professional Staff Association featured our very own Executive Director Dr. Holly L. Thacker in their 'Get to know women leaders' enewsletter issue.

July 2013 -- North American Menopause Society's First to Know e-newsletter showcased our Executive Director Dr. Holly L. Thacker's review of hyaluronic acid vaginal gel and it's effectiveness for vaginal dryness in women.

July 2013 -- Researchers at Yale University hope their estimates of what they call the unnecessary premature deaths of women over a 10-year period will jolt patients and their physicians to re-think their avoidance of estrogen hormone replacement therapy.

In an article published online Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, the researchers project that the deathsof nearly 50,000 women who had a hysterectomy in their 50s and 60s could have been avoided by taking estrogen therapy. The deaths occurred between 2002 and 2011.

July 2013 -- Thousands of postmenopausal women have died prematurely over the past decade because they avoided estrogen therapy after hysterectomy, a new analysis of a landmark study showed.

June 2013 -- Here's another reason for women to lose weight. Losing weight could improve memory in older, overweight women, according to a new small study. In addition, the women's brain activity actually changes in the regions of the brain that are vital for memory tasks after weight loss.

June 2013 -- A recent discovery from a lab at Harvard University's Stem Cell Institute could be a step toward drastically reducing those painful numbers. Researchers there, led by the institute's co-director Douglas Melton, found a hormone that caused an amazing increase in the ability of mice to produce their own natural insulin.

The hormone, called betatrophin, caused up to a 30-fold boost in the production of beta cells, the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. The lab's results were published last month in the journal Cell.

"Imagine instead of taking three insulin injections a day, if you took one injection of betatrophin a month, or every year," said Melton. Then "your body makes more beta cells and then those beta cells produce the insulin you need."

Hot flashes and night sweats are two of the most common menopause symptoms, although their severity and duration can differ, depending on the person. Although not life threatening, these symptoms often are a major disruption to one's sleep patterns. Now a new study finds that more than half of middle-aged women with regular menstrual cycles also experience hot flashes.

Researchers from Group Health and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center surveyed 1,500 women between the ages of 45 and 56 -- all of whom had not skipped any periods -- and discovered that 55% of them were experiencing hot flashes or night sweats.

Marie Paraiso, M.D. is an internationally recognized pioneer in gynecologic surgery at Cleveland Clinic. Most recently, Dr. Paraiso has embraced the burgeoning field of robotic surgery, adapting several of her innovative surgical techniques to robotic-assisted laparoscopic approaches.

While Marie Paraiso, M.D. is an internationally recognized pioneer in gynecologic surgery, she says family has always been her top priority.

May 2013 -- Researchers say that a blood test may soon identify which pregnant women are at highest risk of developing postpartum depression, so they can seek treatment that could control their symptoms.

A panel of federal health experts says a long-established bone strengthening drug should no longer be used by women because there is little evidence it works and it may actually increase the risk of cancer.

Stress and its triggers are different for everyone. What causes tension for one person may be no big deal to someone else. But some experts claim that women are particularly susceptible to stress. No wonder holidays can stress you out!

Dianne Dunkelman, founder and CEO of the National Speaking of Women’s Health Foundation and founder of the Clever Crazes for Kids health outreach program, will receive the University of Cincinnati Award for Excellence at UC’s Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m., Saturday, June 9, in Fifth Third Arena. The award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to the purposes and ideals of the university.Dunkelman launched Speaking of Women’s Health (SWH) as a one-day conference in…

In her second year of residency, Cleveland Clinic women’s health specialist Lynn Pattimakiel, MD, says her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.The experience was an eye opener. Her mother, a nurse, took care of her patients and her family. But she had failed to give herself the same attention and missed a couple of screenings.Caregivers need care, too“I think it was at that time that I realized how much mothers actually put themselves on the back burner,” she says. Dr. Pattimakeil also…

Dr. Holly L. Thacker discusses why knowing your BMI, blood sugar level and cholesteral number can lead to better health.Understanding key numbers—BMI, blood-sugar level—can lead to better health.Blood PressureHealthy number: Less than 120/80 mmHg.Blood pressure refers to the force of blood against the walls of your arteries when your heart beats (systolic pressure, the top number) and during rests between beats (diastolic pressure, the bottom) and is measured in millimeters of mercury…

Dr. Holly L. Thacker recommends that women see their women's health physician for hormone replacement therapy. She discusses the benefits of physician-prescribed hormone replacement therapy for many women and the dangers of compounding pharmacies without a physician’s care.Menopause may have become synonymous with the idea of medical intervention.It needn't be.But with about 25 million women in the United States turning 50 in the next 10 years, most of the reports we read are about just that.…

News outlets have recently published news reports and opinion pieces based on a study about a possible link between hormone therapy and a very rare increased breast cancer death risk. Dr. Holly L. Thacker discusses the facts.