Pharmaceutical treatment of the menopause caused symptoms and pharmacist’s role in the prevention of such diseases

Pharmaceutical Treatment of the Menopause Caused Symptoms and Pharmacist’s Role in the Prevention of such Diseases Stase Ramanauskaite's Master Degree Final Work: Pharmaceutical Treatment of the Menopause-Caused Symptoms and Pharmacist’s Role in a Prevention of Such Pathology. Vilnius University, MF, Program of Pharmacy Studies. Research purpose: Revealing a pharmacist's role to enhance women's life quality at their climacteric age while participating in the prevention of menopause-cause pathology. Research tasks: 1) Review the process of a menopause, etiology and pathogenesis, menopause-related health disorders and disease development potential provoked by an estrogen deficit. 2) Analyzing the usage of Hormone Replacement Therapy and alternative treatment measures to subdue menopause symptoms and to treat the pathology caused by an estrogen lack. 3) Empirical assessment of women's attitude to a pharmaceutical treatment of menopause-caused symptoms, assessment of women's life quality in climacteric period. 4) Revealing pharmacist's role in prevention of pathology caused in climacteric period. 5) Summarizing the obtained research results, making conclusions and suggestions. Research method: Anonymous survey questionnaire. A survey was made on 149 Vilnius City female residents of climacteric age and 104 public drugstore pharmacists' of Vilnius City. Results: 1) The most often complaints caused by menopause symptoms are fever, sweating, weight increase, changes of moods, insomnia, cardiac and blood-vessel pathology. 2) The most often treatment is phytotherapeutic drugs, vitamins and food supplements used for symptom alleviation. One third of surveyed women undergo a PHT treatment. Selection of these drugs often is determined by pharmacists' recommendations. Younger and older women treat their menopause symptoms using the same methods. 3) Pharmacists' provide a drug usage method, storing conditions and a lateral effect but they seldom inform about a life style during a menopause. Majority (93 %) of women who participated in the research think that pharmacist's provided information about a pharmaceutical treatment of menopause-caused symptoms is useful and they would like to get more of it, including more diverse information. 4) Over a half of climacteric age women (about 59 %) do not dare to talk about any complaints of a climacteric age. 5) According to pharmacists' opinion, it is time and conditions for a confidential conversation what they mostly lack to improve their pharmaceutical service for consulting climacteric age women. Recommendations for drugstore employed pharmacists 1) While consulting a climacteric-age resident: a) Learning how she feels, her complaints, b) Determining a pharmaceutical service extent, assessing the need to obtain any drugstore drugs that may enhance women's life quality c) Maintaining confidentiality. 2) Providing thorough information about a drug product to buy. 3) Making women familiar with any alternative measures to treat menopause symptoms. 4) Explaining healthy life style advantages to women who suffer their climacteric period