Journal of Menopausal Medicine  2015;21(2):65-71

doi:10.6118/jmm.2015.21.2.65

The Recent Review of the Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause.

Hyun Kyung KIM 1 ; So Yeon KANG ; Youn Jee CHUNG ; Jang Heub KIM ; Mee Ran KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Genitourinary syndrome of menopause; Menopause; Vulvovaginal atrophy

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

The genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) is a new term that describes various menopausal symptoms and signs including not only genital symptoms (dryness, burning, and irritation), and sexual symptoms (lack of lubrication, discomfort or pain, and impaired function, but also urinary symptoms (urgency, dysuria, and recurrent urinary tract infections). The terms vulvovaginal atrophy and atrophic vaginitis, which were generally used until recently, had a limitation because they did not cover the full spectrum of symptoms and did not imply that the symptoms are related to a decreased estrogen level in menopause. Since the GSM may have a profound negative impact on the quality of life of postmenopausal women, women should be made aware of these problems and treated with an appropriate effective therapy. Thus, in this review we introduce new terminology and discuss the importance of comprehension of GSM and the necessity of active treatment of this syndrome in postmenopausal women.