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

Amos Pines, A Pines, David Sturdee, D W Sturdee
Climacteric : the journal of the International Menopause Society · 2015 · vol. 18(6) , pp. 802–804 · doi:10.3109/13697137.2015.1090149 · PMID:26397968 · W1852844221
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⚙ AI-generated summary by qwen3.7-flash, 2026-10-05 ⓘ

This opinion piece argues that exaggerated safety concerns and misinformation regarding intravaginal estrogen have led to the promotion of less effective non-estrogenic therapies for vulvovaginal atrophy, despite evidence supporting estrogen's efficacy.

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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.

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Condition tags

dyspareunia

MeSH descriptors

Communication Estrogen Replacement Therapy Estrogens Vagina Vulva Atrophy Atrophy Atrophy Estrogen Replacement Therapy Estrogens Estrogens Evidence-Based Medicine Female Humans Menopause Patient Preference Practice Guidelines as Topic Practice Patterns, Physicians' Vagina Vulva

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