French supplier Naturex has launched a botanical ingredient aimed at the women's menopausal market it claims offers a scientifically-backed alternative to existing menopausal relievers such as soy extracts, flax, red clover and black cohosh.

Although Naturex already offers the likes of red clover and black cohosh as raw materials it said its new ingredient, called Lifenol, had a higher level of supporting clinical data that would bring certainty to what it calls a "confused market".

Researchers can now predict the age of menopause more accurately. How this could help women and why some might not want to know.

Nancy Caspell thinks she can have it all. At age 28, she isn't ready for children. Even though she's not in a serious relationship, she figures by the time she hits age 35 or 40 she'll have met the man of her dreams, be more established in her career and, as with all happy endings, finally be ready for pregnancies and kids.

She only hopes her ovaries agree.

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By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- The epilepsy drug Dilantin may put young women who take it for a year or more at higher risk for osteoporosis, researchers report.

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- No matter when postmenopausal women start hormone replacement therapy (HRT), high doses of the treatment increase their risk of stroke, a new study finds.

By Amanda Gardner EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- The timing of hormone therapy might determine its effect on a woman's heart. Specifically, researchers have found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) administered early in menopause to women with risk factors for heart disease did not diminish the function of the endothelial cells that line the inner walls of the arteries and might even improve it. Endothelial function is a way to measure early heart disease.