Many studies show that postmenopausal women who receive estrogen replacement reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 20 to 35 percent.
NEW ORLEANS – Diabetes is a common medical problem in Louisiana, and the pandemic has been particularly severe for these patients.
Research has found a way to help post menopausal women with diabetes, and another new research study will begin in Tulane this fall.
After menopause, when women run out of their female hormones, the fat in the midsection increases and the muscle mass decreases. Metabolic changes are not all dependent on age. The lack of estrogen is also to blame.
Many studies show that postmenopausal women who receive estrogen replacement reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 20 to 35 percent. Diabetics have lower glucose levels.
Tulane Endocrinologist and Director of the Laboratory for Diabetes Detection Research and Gender Medicine, Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, has been researching metabolism and hormone replacement for years. He started with menopausal mice fed a fattening and junk food diet.
“And these animals became natural, these females, they became obese. And those treated with this exact estrogen treatment will remember the phrase I said that the fat melts in the sun, “said Dr. Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, referring to the weight loss of the animals in the study.
Subsequent studies have been performed on menopausal women.
“My metabolism was down. I had put on a lot. I didn’t feel like training and was unhappy, ”said study participant Regina Valent in 2017.
The results now published showed that hormone replacement improved prediabetes.
“We had a slight improvement in blood sugar and insulin production. OK. So that’s good for diabetes, ”he explained.
However, these studies were only conducted on small groups of women for a few months. Now his colleague, the endocrinologist Dr. Dragana Lovre, advancing research with post-menopausal diabetic and pre-diabetic women.
“We want to see that in diabetic women you already have decreased insulin secretion. So if we improve insulin secretion and insulin production in non-diabetic women, the effect in diabetic women may be even better,” said Dr. Mauvais-Jarvis.
Improving diabetes helps with many health problems, but now we know it is especially dangerous if you get COVID-19.
The hormone study looks for postmenopausal women who have diabetes or pre-diabetes.
For more information, call 504-988-0200. The study will begin in autumn 2021.
Learn more about studies showing metabolic benefits for hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women.
Franck Mauvais-Jarvis, MD, director of the Tulane Diabetes Research Program at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, stated at the annual World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: “During the transition into menopause, women are more likely to have metabolic disorders including visceral obesity, systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and high blood pressure.
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