Category Archives: Hormone Replacement Therapy

For 10 years, many women going through menopause have shunned hormone replacement therapy after a landmark study suggested a link between HRT and breast cancer. A new study, published online in the medical journal BMJ, suggests a flaw in that initial study: The women in the first report started HRT at an average age of 63. The new study follows women who began HRT at the onset of menopause (the 1,006 women involved in the study were white, healthy, and aged 45-58 years old), and found that not only was there not an increased risk of cancer for the women on HRT, they were less likely to die of heart disease. Half of the women in the study were given HRT for 10 years. After 10 years, 15 women in the HRT group had died and one suffered a heart problem. In the non-HRT group, 26 women had died and seven had had some type of heart problem. The Danish researchers followed the women for another six years, finding that women not on HRT were 40 percent more likely to die or suffer a heart problem than the women on HRT. Rates of breast cancer were the same between the … Continue reading →

By: Agence France-Presse October 10, 2012 7:03 AM OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES STORIES InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5 PARIS - Women who start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) soon after menopause do not show higher cancer incidence within 16 years, according to a Danish study published on Tuesday that fuels scientific discord over the treatment's safety. Indeed, women who took HRT in the investigation had a significantly lower risk of dying or developing heart problems, the researchers wrote in a paper published on the medical websitebmj.com. The new study was hailed by a menopause awareness group but a researcher who led a wider probe into HRT said it was worryingly underpowered. HRT has been shrouded in controversy since a Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2002 reported a higher risk of breast cancer for women who take it, a finding echoed by the Million Women Study (MWS) a year later. "We found a significantly decreased risk of... death, heart failure or myocardial infarction (heart attack) when hormone replacement therapy was started early in postmenopause," wrote the Danish team. "(T)his finding was not associated with an increased risk of cancer, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism." The MWS stirred up … Continue reading →

By Jenny Hope PUBLISHED: 17:32 EST, 9 October 2012 | UPDATED: 18:32 EST, 9 October 2012 Taking HRT is safe and can protect against heart disease without increasing cancer risks, a milestone study claims. It found women who take hormone replacement therapy at the start of the menopause for 10 years can reduce their risk of heart failure, heart attacks and premature death. Most importantly, the study found there was no extra risk of cancer, strokes or blood clots even 16 years after starting HRT. HRT use dropped dramatically in 2002 when a study found women who took it were at a higher risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes. A new review has called that research 'unreliable and defective' Using HRT halved the risk of heart disease and strokes, and cut the death rate by 43 per cent during the study period. Experts hailed the findings as finally demonstrating that HRT has long-term health benefits after a decade-long controversy over its safety. British doctors are calling for rules on HRT prescribing to be re-written, allowing a new generation of women to get bone protection and relief from menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and mood changes. Read the … Continue reading →

Women who start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) soon after menopause do not show higher cancer incidence within 16 years, according to a Danish study published on Tuesday that fuels scientific discord over the treatment's safety. Indeed, women who took HRT in the investigation had a significantly lower risk of dying or developing heart problems, the researchers wrote in a paper published on the medical website bmj.com. The new study was hailed by a menopause awareness group but a researcher who led a wider probe into HRT said it was worryingly underpowered. HRT has been shrouded in controversy since a Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study in 2002 reported a higher risk of breast cancer for women who take it, a finding echoed by the Million Women Study (MWS) a year later. "We found a significantly decreased risk of... death, heart failure or myocardial infarction (heart attack) when hormone replacement therapy was started early in postmenopause," wrote the Danish team. "(...) (T)his finding was not associated with an increased risk of cancer, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism." The MWS stirred up a storm when it claimed HRT boosted cancer risk by between 30 and 100 percent, a finding criticised by … Continue reading →

By Jennifer KrausConsumer Investigator NASHVILLE, Tenn.- The state Attorney General said he's prepared to contact every patient in Tennessee who got hormone replacement therapy from Nashville-based HRC Medical. This comes as the Attorney General has gone to court to shut down the entire company and after NewsChannel 5 Investigates first exposed problems with HRC's hormone therapy nearly a year ago. The Attorney General is so concerned that he wants every patient who went to the HRC clinic here in Nashville and those in Memphis and Knoxville to talk with their primary care physicians about the possible long term health problems they could face including endometrial cancer and breast cancer. Read the lawsuit filed against HRC Medical Former HRC patient Susan Moerschel told NewsChannel 5 Investigates, "It's frightening." Moerschel, who underwent hormone replacement therapy at HRC for a year, was stunned to hear now that the state attorney general has gone to court to shut down HRC Medical in order to "protect consumers." The 160-page complaint filed Monday accuses HRC and its owners of running the company in a "persistently fraudulent manner" and repeatedly making "false and misleading statements" about its heavily promoted hormone replacement therapy. The complaint also confirmed what … Continue reading →

9 October 2012 Last updated at 19:44 ET Women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may cut their risk of heart problems, a study suggests, but experts are still cautious about long-term safety risks. Published in the journal BMJ, the study also found HRT is not associated with an increased risk of cancer or stroke - but past studies have shown a link. The Department of Health advises women to only use it on a short-term basis. The researchers traced 1,000 women over 10 years - half of them were on HRT. Talking about their findings, the paper's authors said: "HRT had significantly reduced risk of mortality, heart failure, or heart attack, without any apparent increase of cancer, deep vein thrombosis or stroke." However, they stressed that "due to the potential time lag, longer time may be necessary to take more definite conclusions". Safety concerns about the long-term use of the therapy has been debated by academics over the past decade. The women in the study were aged between 45-58 years old and recently menopausal - those on treatment started it soon after menopausal symptoms began. HRT replaces female hormones that are no longer produced during the menopause and can … Continue reading →

Oct. 9, 2012 -- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may do more than ease hot flashes and mood swings. A new study suggests that women who start taking hormones during menopause might get some protection against heart disease without seeing increases in other serious risks. The study, which was published in BMJ, tested a theory called the timing hypothesis. In older women many years past menopause, hormone replacement therapy using both estrogen and progesterone has been shown to raise risks for heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, dementia, and breast cancer. Whats been less clear is whether hormones might be safer and more beneficial if they are replaced as they naturally start to drop off, around the time of menopause. Though the results of the new study look promising, experts who were not involved in the research caution that it is not a game-changer. This trial is not a trial thats going to change how we prescribe hormone replacement therapy. This isnt going to change practice. There are issues about this trial, says Suzanne Steinbaum, MD, director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. But she says the new results are intriguing and should open the … Continue reading →

By Peter Loftus Abbott Laboratories (ABT) has recalled three lots of the thyroid-hormone replacement therapy Synthroid because some bottles had defects that could affect the stability of the tablets. Abbott initiated the voluntary recall in July in letters to wholesale customers. In one letter, Abbott said it was taking the "precautionary action because a low number of Synthroid bottles have a localized thin wall defect on the bottom of the bottle which may potentially impact the stability of Synthroid tablets." The letter asked wholesalers and distributors to cease selling and distributing the affected lots, and to notify any pharmacies that may have received them. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted a notice about the Synthroid recall on its website this week. The FDA notice suggested that more than 136,500 bottles of Synthroid were subject to the recall. An Abbott spokesman declined immediate comment. The FDA listed the event as a Class II recall, which is typically applied in situations where a product might cause a temporary health problem or pose only a slight threat of a serious health problem. Synthroid is a synthetic thyroid hormone used by people with hypothyroidism, in which the thyroid gland doesn't produce enough natural … Continue reading →

Oct. 5, 2012 -- Is it possible to safely take hormone replacement therapy (HRT)? That question is at the heart of a small new study testing whether better timing and refined delivery may help early menopausal women get the benefits of hormones relatively safety and without long-term risks. For some women, menopause brings mental and physical symptoms that can make life a misery. Replacing estrogen and progestin may help relieve complaints like hot flashes,irritability, brain fog, and vaginal dryness. But studies show that taking hormones, even temporarily, has risks. In a large, government-funded trial called the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) that was released about a decade ago, postmenopausal women who took HRT had higher risks of blood clots, strokes, heart disease, and breast cancer. But the WHI enrolled women ages 50-79, many of whom started hormones when they were over age 65 and well past menopause. Many doctors have wondered if replacement hormones might be safer if they are given as soon as they start to drop naturally in the body, around age 50 or so. Its a theory called the timing hypothesis. Preliminary results from the new four-year study, called the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS), were presented … Continue reading →

October 4, 2012 in Health, Nation/World Study finds process alleviates major menopausesymptoms Melissa Healy Los Angeles Times Today, 1 in 5 postmenopausal American women uses hormone replacement therapy, mostly to treat symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. That is about half the rate in 2002, when 40 percent tookhormones. Healthy middle-aged women who take hormones to ease the misery of hot flashes and night sweats have fewer depressive symptoms, less anxiety and tension, and better and more sex than those who do not, according to a newstudy. Though the long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy could not be measured by the new research, it did offer some reassuring findings. It suggested that some womens cholesterol profiles and metabolic function might improve on hormone replacement therapy and that blood pressure did not rise during or after a relatively brief stay on hormonereplacement. Participants taking oral hormone replacement pills reported, on average, a slight improvement in their ability to recall printed materials they had read. But for women who received hormones through a transdermal patch, subjective reports of memory problems increased slightly, as did theirseverity. As expected, women who got hormone replacement maintained more bone density than those … Continue reading →