Personal opinion: Treatment of vulvovaginal atrophy – are hidden interests and misinformation preventing better management?

Abstract

Menopausal women very often complain of vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA)-related symptoms, which mainly include dryness, irritation, dyspareunia and pain. The ideal therapeutic approach is to use systemic or intravaginal estrogen, which has proved to be effective. However, because of safety concerns that were raised after the publication of the Women’s Health Initiative data, non-estrogenic and non-hormonal therapies for VVA have been developed and heavily promoted. Many menopause specialists believe that the flow of information on the newer products indicated for VVA seems to include an inaccurate message, which downgrades the use of estrogenic preparations and upgrades modern non-estrogenic therapies. Both media and medical sources have created an atmosphere of exaggerated worries over intravaginal estrogen therapies, which are not substantiated by hard clinical facts.

Key words::

• VULVOVAGINAL ATROPHY
• TOPICAL ESTROGEN
• INTRAVAGINAL ESTROGEN
• ALTERNATIVE VAGINAL THERAPIES
• CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
• BREAST CANCER
• ENDOMETRIAL CANCER
• MENOPAUSE
• NON-ESTROGENIC THERAPIES
• NON-HORMONAL THERAPIES

Conflict of interest The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Source of funding Nil.