Category Archives: Hormone Replacement Therapy

TUESDAY, March 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- There's yet another study looking at the potential dangers of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, and this one supports the notion that the treatment may not help women's hearts. The research, a review of collected data on the issue, found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not protect most postmenopausal women against heart disease and may even increase their risk of stroke. Also, the findings suggest that the harms and benefits of hormone therapy may vary depending on woman's age when she started the therapy, explained study lead author Dr. Henry Boardman, of the cardiovascular medicine department at the University of Oxford in England. "This 'Timing Hypothesis' may be the critical key to the use of HRT," agreed one expert, Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "For certain women who fit the criteria, being on HRT early in menopause may be beneficial, and the fear of taking it may be unfounded," said Steinbaum, who was not involved in the new study. The findings were published March 10 in the journal Cochrane Library. A woman's natural supply of estrogen diminishes after menopause, … Continue reading →

Women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) pills should be made aware that there is a small chance that they increase the risk of blood clots and strokes, according to results from a new study. Scientists at international research group Cochrane made the link when they looked at medical trials involving 40,000 women. The pills are often taken as they can ease the symptoms of menopause and offer protection against heart disease; however experts suggest discussing their options with a doctor would be wise. This isn't the first time the pills have been linked to negative side-effects; over the years there have been connections with breast and ovarian cancer. There has always been a debate on the benefits versus negatives of taking the HRT pills, however most experts seem to agree that it is a safe treatment to help control menopause symptoms, such as hot flushes. Maureen Talbot of the British Heart Foundation says: "This study supports what we already know and indicates a possible increased risk of stroke or formation of a blood clot in some women. It is important that women have a full understanding of the risks and benefits of HRT and should talk this through with their … Continue reading →

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter FRIDAY, March 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Hormone replacement therapy for women may not be as potentially risky as previously thought, a new Mayo Clinic review contends. The new study, which evaluated three decades of prior research, concluded that hormone therapy to treat symptoms of menopause doesn't increase overall risk of death or the risk of death from heart attack, stroke or cancer. "This is the latest update of the current evidence," said lead author Dr. Khalid Benkhadra, a research fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "I can say there's no risk of dying from any reason because a woman is taking hormone replacement therapy." The results, Benkhadra said, should allay concerns of some women with debilitating menopausal symptoms who have feared taking hormones. But not everyone is sold on the safety of hormone therapy. Heart and cancer doctors who reviewed the new findings said that hormone therapy should still be used sparingly on those most in need, until further research proves otherwise. "This study may provide some comfort that it shouldn't shorten your life, but it doesn't change the concern that the bad effects of hormone therapy are going to be an … Continue reading →

New evidence published today in the Cochrane Library shows that hormone replacement therapy does not protect post-menopausal women against cardiovascular disease, and may even cause an increased risk of stroke. HRT, now more commonly known as hormone therapy, is widely used for controlling menopausal symptoms. It has also been used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women. This latest evidence looked at the effects of using hormone therapy for at least six months and involved more than 40,000 women across the world. The length of time women were on treatment, varied across the trials from seven months to just over 10 years. Overall, the results showed no evidence that hormone therapy provides any protective effects against death from any cause, and specifically death from cardiovascular disease, non-fatal heart attacks or angina, either in healthy women or women with pre-existing heart disease. Instead the findings showed a small increased risk of stroke for post-menopausal women. The authors also explored how much of an effect there was of starting HRT earlier. They found some evidence that women who started treatment within the first 10 years of their menopause, when menopausal symptoms are most common, seem to have a small protection … Continue reading →

There's yet another study looking at the potential dangers of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, and this one supports the notion that the treatment may not help women's hearts. The research, a review of collected data on the issue, found that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not protect most postmenopausal women against heart disease and may even increase their risk of stroke. Also, the findings suggest that the harms and benefits of hormone therapy may vary depending on woman's age when she started the therapy, explained study lead author Dr. Henry Boardman, of the cardiovascular medicine department at the University of Oxford in England. "This 'Timing Hypothesis' may be the critical key to the use of HRT," agreed one expert, Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "For certain women who fit the criteria, being on HRT early in menopause may be beneficial, and the fear of taking it may be unfounded," said Steinbaum, who was not involved in the new study. The findings were published March 10 in the journal Cochrane Library. A woman's natural supply of estrogen diminishes after menopause, and HRT has been widely used to … Continue reading →

Hormone therapy for menopause not as risky, study says Hormone replacement therapy for women may not be as potentially risky as previously thought, a new Mayo Clinic review says. The new study, which evaluated three decades of prior research, concluded that hormone therapy to treat symptoms of menopause doesnt increase overall risk of death or the risk of death from heart attack, stroke or cancer. Concerns about the long-term safety of hormone therapy arose more than a decade ago when a large-scale federal study found that hormone therapy using estrogen and progestin increased a womans risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots and breast cancer, compared with placebo. Estrogen alone increased risk of blood clots and stroke, but made no difference in heart attack risk and had an uncertain effect on breast cancer. The new Mayo Clinic study, involving 52,000 women 50 or older, found that neither of the main hormone therapies affected a womans risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or cancer. Heart and cancer doctors warned that hormone therapy should still be used sparingly pending further research. The findings were scheduled to be presented this month at the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society, in San … Continue reading →

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) pills have mixed risks and benefits in relation to heart disease and stroke depending on when women start taking them. A large-scale evidence review showed that, overall, oral HRT does not protect against heart disease and may increase the risk of stroke. However, data from a sub-group of younger women more representative of the majority of patients found a reduced risk of death from any cause and from heart disease linked to the treatment, even though the likelihood of blood clots was slightly raised. The review looked at almost 4,000 studies from around the world involving some 40,000 participants and included two large American investigations which recruited women as old as 79. Around 9,000 women formed the sub-group who were prescribed the treatment at, or not long after, the menopause. Lead researcher Henry Boardman of Oxford University said: The evidence we have provides some support for the so-called timing hypothesis, but we should bear in mind the size of this effect. When we looked at the results according to the age of women, or by how long since their menopause that they started treatment, we found that if 1,000 women under 60 years old started hormone … Continue reading →

Published February 13, 2015 An analysis of over 50 studies suggests an association between short-term use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) during menopause and a 40 percent increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The study, published Thursday in the journal The Lancet, reviewed data from 21,488 women who lived in North America, Europe and Australia. Researchers observed that women who used HRT for only a few years were more likely to develop the two most common types of ovarian cancer, compared to women who had never taken HRT. Those types are serous epithelial and endometrioid ovarian cancer. HRT use was not linked to an increased risk of the other two main types of ovarian cancer: mucinous and clear cell ovarian cancers. HRT for menopause is meant to replace hormones that the body no longer makes after menopause. Doctors used to prescribe it as a standard treatment to relieve hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic. A large clinical study later suggested one type of the treatment the estrogen-progestin pill Prerempo posed more risks than benefits, and doctors started to become less inclined to prescribe it as a result. Those risks included heart disease, stroke, blood clots … Continue reading →

Taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the menopause, even for just a few years, is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing the two most common types of ovarian cancer, according to a detailed re-analysis of all the available evidence, published in The Lancet. The findings from a meta-analysis of 52 epidemiological studies, involving a total of 21488 women with ovarian cancer, almost all from North America, Europe and Australia, indicate that women who use HRT for just a few years are about 40% more likely to develop ovarian cancer than women who have never taken HRT. "For women who take HRT for 5 years from around age 50, there will be about one extra ovarian cancer for every 1000 users and one extra ovarian cancer death for every 1700 users"*, explains study co-author Professor Sir Richard Peto from the University of Oxford in the UK. Although HRT use fell rapidly about a decade ago, this decrease has now levelled off and in the UK and USA alone about 6 million women are still taking HRT. Existing WHO, US and European HRT guidelines do not mention ovarian cancer, and UK guidelines (currently being revised) state only that ovarian cancer … Continue reading →

Menopausal women who take hormone replacement therapy boost the risk of ovarian cancer by 40 percent, even if they take the treatment only for a few years, a study says. The probe marks the widest analysis of the risk of ovarian cancer from HRT, a treatment whose use declined when its safety was questioned a dozen years ago. Researchers publishing in The Lancet on Friday carried out an overview of 52 published studies, covering nearly 21,500 women in Australia, North America and Europe who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. An outside commentator, Rod Baber, a professor of gynaecology at the University of Sydney and president of the International Menopause Society, said the study had brought much-needed clarity. Previous studies have found either a significant increase in cancer probability, or none at all. In absolute terms, though, the risk for women using HRT "is very, very low", Baber cautioned. The disease has been dubbed a "silent killer" as it is often spotted too late. "For women who take HRT for five years from around age 50, there will be about one extra ovarian cancer for every 1000 users, and one extra ovarian cancer death for every 1700 users," said Richard … Continue reading →