Category Archives: Hormone Replacement Therapy

By Amanda Gardner HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that hormone replacement therapy, used to relieve hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause, might be safe for younger menopausal women when taken in smaller doses for short periods of time. Women have shied away from this type of therapy since the landmark Women's Health Initiative study found elevated risks of breast cancer, heart disease and other health problems among women taking estrogen plus progestin, a synthetic form of progesterone. That study was halted early because of the results, published in 2002. But research scheduled for presentation Wednesday at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society in Orlando, Fla., found that estrogen, either in oral form (Premarin) or as a patch (Climara), plus a progesterone (Prometrium) did not harm the heart either in terms of raised blood pressure or hardening of the arteries. Progesterone is added because estrogen alone can promote uterine cancer. In another part of the study, hormone replacement therapy did help with mood and depression, researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health found. It did not worsen memory, as the Women's Health Initiative had indicated, the … Continue reading →

Q: I am fed up with medical flip-flops. Whether it is hormone replacement therapy, calcium supplements, eggs or salt, first we get told one thing, and then doctors change their minds. In the meantime, we consumers are left wondering what to believe and whom to trust. I am still baffled by whether salt is as bad as I have always been told. A: We understand how hard it is to make sense of contradictory evidence from medical research. You are right that there have been major reversals regarding eggs, calcium and salt. For decades, Americans were told to avoid eggs to control cholesterol and decrease the risk of heart disease. Current science does not support this belief (Advances in Nutrition, September 2012). Salt is another hot-button issue. An analysis of 167 randomized controlled trials found that reducing sodium intake lowers blood pressure modestly (American Journal of Hypertension, January 2012). Sodium restriction also raises cholesterol, triglycerides and stress hormones. An eight-year study of 3,500 people found that those consuming the least sodium were at the highest risk of dying during the study (Journal of the American Medical Association, May 4, 2011). This isn't to suggest that people should be increasing their … Continue reading →

Medical experts are buzzing about a new hormone therapy study that shows short-term estrogen and progesterone treatment is safe for some menopausal women -- and the study data isn't even out yet. Results from the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study, or KEEPS, will be presented tonight at the North American Menopause Society's annual meeting in Orlando. Researchers reported finding that hormone pills and patches relieved patients' symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats, but didn't necessarily increase their risk of heart problems, as other studies have shown. "We're so excited about results that are going to be released in just a few hours," NAMS Executive Director Dr. Margery Gass said from Orlando. She said the KEEPS data is preliminary and the paper hasn't been written yet, but doctors all around her are talking about the summary they've seen. "This study, however, is looking more at the immediate effects of hormones on quality of life issues and then markers of chronic disease... It's not the final results, such as broken bone, a heart attack or a stroke because those things don't really happen that much in this age group." Findings released to the media this week in a press release … Continue reading →

Medical experts are buzzing about a new hormone therapy study that shows short-term estrogen and progesterone treatment is safe for some menopausal women -- and the study data isn't even out yet. Results from the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study, or KEEPS, will be presented tonight at the North American Menopause Society's annual meeting in Orlando. Researchers reported finding that hormone pills and patches relieved patients' symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats, but didn't necessarily increase their risk of heart problems, as other studies have shown. "We're so excited about results that are going to be released in just a few hours," NAMS Executive Director Dr. Margery Gass said from Orlando. She said the KEEPS data is preliminary and the paper hasn't been written yet, but doctors all around her are talking about the summary they've seen. "This study, however, is looking more at the immediate effects of hormones on quality of life issues and then markers of chronic disease... It's not the final results, such as broken bone, a heart attack or a stroke because those things don't really happen that much in this age group." Findings released to the media this week in a press release … Continue reading →

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 new study. 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 women's 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 hormone replacement. 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 their severity. As expected, women who got hormone replacement maintained more bone density than those who did not. The results from the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study, known as KEEPS, were presented Wednesday at the North American Menopause Society's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. The study is likely to fuel a growing willingness among American women and their physicians to turn to replacement hormones, after … Continue reading →

Washington, October 3 (ANI): Surgeons at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, have moved a promising step closer to helping infertile, premenopausal women to produce enough eggs to become pregnant. They have been able to stimulate ovarian cell production using an in vitro rat model, and observed as the cells matured into very early-stage eggs that could possibly be fertilized. "While conventional hormone replacement therapy is able to maintain female sexual characteristics, it's unable to restore ovarian tissue function, which includes the production of eggs," the study's authors reported. Ovarian tissue function is critical for premenopausal women who desire to conceive. Several fertility disorders can leave premenopausal women without an adequate amount of eggs. These disorders can also prevent a woman's ovaries from secreting enough of the hormones that stimulate egg production. Events such as ovarian operations, an injury, or radiation therapy for cancer can interfere with ovarian function, according to Anthony Atala, MD, FACS, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and chair of the department of urology at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Although the causes may vary, about 10 percent of childbearing-age women struggle with infertility, meaning that … Continue reading →

Genetic analyses found herbs similar to black cohosh were being sold in commercial preparations of the popular remedy, possibly explaining mixed results and casting doubt on supplement label accuracy By Katherine Harmon A pure pill? Some black cohosh pills sequenced did not contain black cohosh at all, but rather entirely different plant species. Image: iStockphoto/OlgaMiltsova Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way... Read More When hormone replacement therapy was found to put some menopausal women at increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, many went in search of safer treatments to decrease their symptoms. In the ensuing decade black cohosh has won out as an overwhelming consumer favorite, now reaping millions of dollars in sales each year. But controlled trials of this supplement have seen mixed results, sometimes showing it to be effective in relieving hot flashes, sleep disruptions, mood swings and other symptoms whereas other times revealing it to be ineffective. And some case reports even suggest that it can be toxic, damaging the liver. This messy track record gave Damon Little, a bioinformaticist at The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --While there is some skepticism about male menopause there is no question that age-related changes in men impact testosterone level. Between pharmaceutical marketing and our sometimes-carefree trust in prescription medicine, a drastically climbing number of men are turning to androgen therapy for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer treatment expert and leading robotic prostatectomy SMART surgeon, Dr. David Samadi, urges men and their physicians to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with caution. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120917/NY75460 ) "Increased risk of prostate cancer is a very possible long-term side effect of testosterone replacement therapy," he says. "It concerns me that young men in their mid-30s or early-40s may count on testosterone for a boost in energy or sexual prowess and get much more than they bargained for in the long run." Dr. Samadi refers to the link between testosterone and prostate cancer risk. Male menopause, or andropause, symptoms occur much more gradually than menopause symptoms in women. Around age 35 or 40, a man's testosterone level naturally begins to decline at a rate of about 1-2% per year, making the term "pause" not entirely accurate. Normal testosterone level, at any age, is measured in a range of 300 to … Continue reading →

Exhaustion from sleepless nights convinced Vancouver public relations consultant Diana Barkley to try hormone replacement therapy five years ago. The 50-something professional says she was aware of news reports suggesting a link to breast cancer and heart problems, but decided to look for more information. Insomnia, night sweats and hot flashes - all part of menopause for many women - were becoming unbearable. "That makes it nearly impossible to work effectively. The night sweats are uncomfortable, obviously. The hot flashes during the day, if you're in the middle of a presentation and you get one, it's very discomforting and it's also very distracting." For the uninitiated, a hot flash is a short-lived feeling of heat that typically starts in the chest area and spreads. It can lead to blushing and perspiration and affects about three-quarters of woman as their estrogen levels decline. Symptoms typically begin when women stop having regular menstrual periods in their early 50s and continue for years. Barkley said her research led her to the Westcoast Women's Clinic in Vancouver where she had a number of tests and extensive consultation. She's had the doses adjusted and combinations changed over the years and now takes a progesterone pill, … Continue reading →

MONTGOMERY, ALA. (September 7, 2012) A federal jury in Salt Lake City, Utah awarded $5.1 million to plaintiff Toshiko Okuda in a Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) case after hearing four weeks of testimony regarding the link between hormone replacement drugs and breast cancer. The jury determined that the HRT drug Prempro, manufactured by Wyeth, caused the plaintiffs breast cancer and that the drug makers failed to adequately warn of that risk on labels provided to doctors and patients. Frank Woodson, Russ Abney, Matt Teague and James Lampkin of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., of Montgomery, Ala., represented Ms. Okuda, along with James Esparza of James Esparza Law Firm in Murray, Utah. Hormone Replacement Therapy, including drugs such as Premarin, Prempro and Provera, was prescribed to treat the symptoms of menopause until 2002, when a comprehensive womens health study was halted as a result of increasing incidents of breast cancer. The drugs also were promoted for off-label uses, including prevention of cardiovascular disease and Alzheimers disease. The evidence in this case is obviously the drug makers knew of the risk of breast cancer associated with these drugs, but they did nothing to warn thousands of women who were … Continue reading →