Government panel: Hormone therapy ‘not recommended’
In 2002, one of the trials was stopped early when researchers found that women taking the hormones estrogen-plus-progestin pills actually had higher risks of blood clots, heart attack, stroke and breast cancer than placebo users did. A second trial, looking at estrogen therapy alone, was stopped two years later. Women on the hormone showed no lower risk of heart disease, but did have a slightly elevated rate of blood clots and stroke. The latest findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, do nothing to change the general advice on hormones, according to lead researcher Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.
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Hormone Therapy Linked to Higher Breast Cancer Death Risk
Twenty-five women who took hormone therapy died from breast cancer during the study, compared to 12 women in the placebo group. null “It is early in the follow-up and the number of breast cancer deaths will certainly substantially increase as we move forward,” said Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and lead author of the study. Women in the study who used estrogen and progestin for five-and-a-half years — which is considered long-term use of the therapy — were at higher risk of getting breast cancer, said Chlebowksi. Earlier results of this trial indicated a connection between synthetic hormone therapy — commonly marketed as as the drug Prempro — and less aggressive forms of breast cancer . But results now suggest that women who took hormones may be at risk of any, including more aggressive and late-stage, forms of breast cancer.
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“There is no evidence that the therapies would prevent those conditions.” Years ago, in addition to providing relief for menopause symptoms, hormone therapy was thought to offer protection against cardiovascular problems, osteoporosis and dementia, so doctors routinely prescribed it to otherwise healthy women. That practice fell out of favor about 10 years ago when a large clinical trial — the Women’s Health Initiative — designed to confirm these hypotheses was halted early. Women involved in that trial were actually at higher risk for many of the problems that hormone therapy was supposed to prevent. Data from the Women’s Health Initiative and other large-scale trials suggest estrogen plus progestin therapy moderately reduces risk for fractures but increases the chance of developing strokes, dementia, deep vein thrombosis, urinary incontinence and gallbladder disease. For patients taking estrogen only, the picture is similar.
For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/29/health/conditions/hormone-replacement-therapy/index.html