Therapy, exercise aid chemo-related menopause

(REUTERS) - Younger women who are thrust into menopause because of breast cancer treatment may get some relief from talk therapy and regular exercise, according to a study from the Netherlands.

Menopause symptoms such as hot flashes often come on gradually for women who go through natural menopause, as the body's production of hormones slowly dwindles. But that's not often the case for women diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with chemotherapy and other potent drugs.

"Oftentimes with women with breast cancer who experience treatment-induced menopause, the symptoms are much more severe than in natural menopause," said Neil Aaronson from The Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, who worked on the study.

In addition, those women can't take replacement hormones to ease the symptoms, an effective but controversial treatment for menopause-related symptoms, since the hormones can put them at risk for a cancer recurrence.