title: Hormone profile of menopausal women in Havana.
abstract: There is a tendency among women today to delay the age at which they have their first child or subsequent children. This creates a dilemma for couples, since health professionals tend to counsel against pregnancy in women aged ≥40 years without considering their reproductive potential and their ability to and likelihood of conceiving and carrying to term a healthy newborn at little or no risk.
  
  
  
  Assess hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis function in menopausal women in Havana, to evaluate relevance to reproductive potential.
  
  
  
  A retrospective study was conducted from March 2006 through March 2008 of 230 healthy women aged 40-59 years seen in the Menopause and Osteoporosis Clinic in Havana, Cuba. Chart review yielded data on current age, stage of climacteric and hormone levels expressed in means and standard deviations: serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol and testosterone. Analysis of variance was used for assessment by age group and stage of menopause (eumenorrheic, perimenopausal and postmenopausal), with a p value of <0.05 set as significance level.
  
  
  
  Mean serum hormone levels in eumenorrheic women were: FSH 6.97 IU/L, LH 4.23 IU/L and estradiol 314 pmol/L; in perimenopausal women: FSH 34.69 IU/L, LH 20.78 IU/L and estradiol 201 pmol/L; and in postmenopausal women: FSH 75.43 IU/L, LH 37.59 IU/L and estradiol 117 pmol/L (p <0.05 for difference between eumenorrheic and postmenopausal women). There was a progressive increase in FSH and LH and a decline in estradiol with older age. There was no significant difference in testosterone levels by age or stage of menopause.
  
  
  
  Menstrual cycle and hormonal levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis should be considered in addition to chronological age when determining reproductive potential in women aged 40-59 years. KEYWORDS Hormones; hypothalamo-hypophyseal system; luteinizing hormone; follicle stimulating hormone, estradiol; testosterone; sex hormones; infertility, female; middle age; menopause; fertility; climacteric; Cuba.
authors.affiliation: National Endocrinology Institute, Havana, Cuba. dnavarro@infomed.sld.cu
authors.forename: Daysi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.forename: Erick
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.forename: Cóssette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Díaz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003462:Cuba; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D008593:Menopause / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D047648:Perimenopause / Q000097:blood; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone