Red Hot Mamas In Charge of Change.
By: Red Hot Mamas
Published: October 28, 2014
During the National Meeting of NAMS, Red Hot Mamas® had the opportunity to talk with Dr. David Portman about a very compelling topic: Improvement in Female Sexual Function
While at NAMS National Meeting, Dr. David Portman, Director, Principal Investigator, Columbus Center for Women’s Health Research talked to several of us about a study he and 4 other Doctors worked on. He gave an overview regarding 4 abstracts (part of which are included within this article), presented at The 25th Annual Meeting Of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) In Washington, DC.
The main points for me during the conversation were:
“Sexual Dysfunction impacts the couple.” Dr David Portman explained in his very relaxed manner.
He explained…… When a doctor has conversations with his menopausal/post menopausal patients, and hopefully explains “on your exam, it looks like things have changed” they are educating their patient about her body’s changes as she ages. Since the doctor has seen this patient before, hence has reference of what her tissue looked like prior, at the visit when noticeable tissue changes are present the doctor needs to have the conversation with his menopausal/post menopausal patient.
Dr. Portman makes a very good point here saying that the vast majority of us (women), might not know what the tissue looks like, and how it looks over time.
Also, Dr. Portman underscores the need for a doctor to validate symptoms the patient is saying/having. “It is a conspiracy of silence– maybe it is part of the cultural baggage of our society.” If the doctor is not validating the patient’s symptoms and explaining what is happening, where is the TLC?
More details regarding the 4 abstracts:
The Responder Analysis of Ospemifene Treatment for Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal Women in Phase 3 Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials.
Objective: Vulvar and vaginal atrophy (VVA) is a chronic condition that frequently affects postmenopausal women and can be progressive. .. A responder analysis that combines both objective and subjective measures may be useful in characterizing the efficacy profile of VVA treatment. The objective of this presentation is to report the results of exploratory responder analyses from two phase 3 ospemifene clinical trials.
Conclusion: In two Phase 3 randomized placebo-controlled trials, ospemifene demonstrated significantly higher responder rates than placebo in postmenopausal women with VVA, and 60 mg ospemifene was significantly better than 30 mg. Most of ospemifene’s effect on responder rates may be attributed to improvement in vaginal physiology (MV and pH).
The Responder Anaylsis results was presented by Dr. Risa Kagan, and two of us from Red Hot Mamas® were fortunate to be in the audience to hear her talk. Dr. Kagan touched on the same points that Dr. Portman had spoke to us about the day prior, underscoring the need for doctors to have the conversations with their patients about the very common symptoms that might be impacting their relationships. As well as the need to validate the patient’s symptoms. She went into detail regarding the improvement in vaginal physiology.
| Title of the Abstract | Author/Presenter |
| Ospemifene Improved The Severity of Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy Symptoms In Postmenopausal Women in Phase 3 Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials1 | Oral presentation by Ginger Constantine |
| Responder Analysis of Ospemifene Treatment for Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal women in Phase 3 Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials2 | Oral presentation by Risa Kagan |
| Improvement in Female Sexual Function by Ospemifene Treatment Is Not Associated with Changes in Serum Hormones in Postmenopausal Women with Vulvar and Vaginal Atrophy3 | Oral presentation by Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg |
| Effect of Ospemifene on Vasomotor Symptoms in Postmenopausal Women4 | Poster presentation by JoAnn Pinkerton |
Osphena® (ospemifene) is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe dyspareunia, a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy, due to menopause.
“With appropriate counseling, patients that feel they have the TLC and have medication that takes the pain out of intercourse”….”Women stop approaching their partners for sexual intimacy due to discomfort”
Dr. David Portman is a clinical instructor at Ohio State University, and lectures across the nation to healthcare professionals.
DR. David Portman
