Hormonal Therapy after Menopause Medications Research Paper

Hormonal Therapy after Menopause Medications - Research Paper Example Synthetic estrogen and progesterone (or sometimes just the estrogen) are administered in small doses in order to relieve or alleviate symptoms, especially hot flushes (Pathy et al., 2012). However, sufficient medical history is needed before administering HT to menopausal women. A complete physical exam, pap smear, mammography, examination of hormonal levels, cholesterol levels, vitamin D levels and bone density scans, as well as the presence or absence of sexually-transmitted diseases are measured before giving it out to those who suffer from menopausal symptoms (Hawkins, Roberto-Nichols, & Stanley-Haney, 2012). Symptoms of menopause include loss of elasticity of the vagina and the decrease in blood circulation as well as fatty tissue which results in dryness and itchiness, pain around the urethra, hot flushes and night sweats, as well as decrease in bone density that leads to osteoporosis for some women (Hawkins et al., 2012). Other observed symptoms include dementia and cognitive impairment among older women, as well as cardiovascular diseases due to the loss of elasticity of the blood vessels due to the decrease in the release of estrogen and progesterone in the bloodstream (Pathy et al., 2012). Another likely symptom of menopause is depression, which is also due to the low estrogen levels that circulate in the blood. Alongside HT, anti-depressant drugs are also administered routinely to women by physicians not only to women who naturally entered menopause but also to women who had a hysterectomy, or â€Å"surgical menopause† (Stoppard, 2000). For this report, a study by Zanardi, Rossini, Magri, Malaguti, Colombo and Smeraldi in 2006 about assessing the response to anti-depressants of post-menopausal women undergoing HT as well as those who are not, as well as the possible effects and influence of these anti-depressants to the hormonal levels of these women. Background of the Study The study by Zanardi et al. (2006) aims to evaluate the response of p ost-menopausal women to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) and documenting the interactions of SSRI’s with sexual hormones in women undergoing and not undergoing HT. Due to few documentations of post-menopausal women under risk of undergoing depressive episodes, the scant amount of studies concerning the influence of HT in reaction to anti-depressants which end up in ambiguous and bias results, few or incomplete basal assessment of hormonal levels before HT, as well as a lack of studies with a considerable sample size, this study was conceptualized in order to find out if the use of HT would be able to improve the effects of SSRI’s in post-menopausal women. Also, proving the synergistic action between anti-depressants and hormonal therapy could give hope for women who suffer menopause and depression, as well as their healthcare providers in managing their symptoms. This study is also significant especially to people who specialize in geriatrics, in order for them to be able to assess as well as address the needs of their female patients undergoing menopause, depression or both. Methods of the Study Roughly 200 patients of the Research Center for Mood Disorders in San Raffaele Hospital, Milan were chosen for this study. Women above 40 years of age, has amenorrhea for least 12 months and were suffering from a major depressive episode were chosen for this study. Those who were excluded were women who had a history of drug or alcohol abuse, anorexia, other

Environmental impact Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Environmental impact - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the description of the project. In 2006, the Department of Trade and Industry highlighted the fact that in next 20 years, up to third of the UK’s oil and gas generating capacity will be exhausted. Renewable energy has always been part of the United Kingdom’s plan of reducing carbon dioxide omissions and also bridging the gap caused by aging nuclear power plants and dying fossil fuel. The plan also includes reducing UK’s dependencies on imported energy sources. The only way to address the issue was to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable resources such as wind, marine etc. A number of wind farm projects were put into consideration. One of which was the Beatrice Wind Farm project located at 25km off the east coast of Scotland. The project, which is a joint venture between Talisman Energy and Scottish and Southern Energy, consisted of two wind turbines designed to examine the possibility of creating a commerci ally large scale wind farm capable of generating large amount of energy. The two wind turbines, which are prototypes of the actual wind farm, are capable of generating 5MW of energy each going in water as deep as 45 meters. The cost of this demonstrator project is estimated to be around 41 million Euros. The actual development however will cover an approximate area of 132km2 and will be consisting of 184 turbines in total with the capacity of generating 920MW of energy. The project began in 2007 and was proposed to last 5 years in which these two prototype wind turbines were to be assessed. The construction will begin in 2014 and the farm will be fully operational by 2017. Figure 2) Beatrice wind turbine project showing the two demonstrator turbines (Retrieved from: http://www.beatricewind.co.uk/home/default.asp) The two demonstrator wind turbines, which are positioned 500m across each other, were given a run of 5 years by the authorities to merely asses the ‘goods and the bad s’ of the whole project. Its primary purpose was to better understand the impact of deepwater wind farms on the surrounding environment. Although there have been several wind farms already in operation on in UK and Scotland producing around 5 gigwatts GW of energy, a project of this magnitude require some assessment in the beginning. Since the projected area is also home to a number of different species of fish and seals, it is only appropriate to first asses its impact for a certain period of time and then draw any conclusions. Not only that, since it is the first deepwater wind farm project in the world, it adds an extra attention globally. The demonstrator project therefore plays a crucial role in determining whether the large scale farm is effective both in terms of generating energy and its overall cost. During any environmental assessment, the most important part of the process is the scoping process. It is in this stage of the project the key environmental issues are i dentified. It not only helps pinpointing the problem early in the stage but also allows mitigation design changes to be made. It is during this stage that a project is either continued with or is cancelled keeping in mind its environmental impacts. The scoping exercise of Beatrice wind farm project for this report is based on network diagram technique and the results can be found in the following table: Scoping Exercise to determine the main impacts: Potential Impacts Explanation Mitigation Effect on fish Electric field generated from the turbines my affect breeding or feeding abilities 1) Electric cables would be buried underground to minimize the effect. 2) Special insulation might be used on the cables to absorb electric fields. Interaction with birds Might cause disturbance in their migration. It may also affect their breeding and feeding behavior. 1) Careful selection of wind turbine blades. 2) Monitoring of bird movement in the area of the field through radar. Creation of unde rwater noise May interrupt marine mammal behavior 1) Selection of