|
 |
Early hormone replacement therapy could cut risk of dying
Source: (cancerfacts.com)
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
ITHACA, N.Y. – July 14, 2004 – Just when women were getting used to the idea of forgoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT), a new study shows that women who begin HRT before age 60 reduce their risk of dying by 39 percent compared to women not on hormones.
The findings are based on a Cornell University-Stanford University statistical analysis of 30 previously published studies involving a combined total of almost 27,000 women.
Led by Dr. Edwin Salpeter, a professor of physics emeritus at Cornell, the study appears to contradict the findings of a pair studies that made headlines last year, but this new study's conclusion of reduced risk is based on women younger than those studied in the Women's Health Initiative.
"The results of our analysis indicate that the benefits of HRT outweigh the risks in women who have recently entered menopause," Salpeter said in a prepared statement. The findings appear in the July issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
The Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study and the Women's Health Initiative, found no difference in heart-related mortality rates for those taking HRT or a placebo, and that taking HRT increased the risk of breast cancer, stroke, heart attacks and pulmonary embolism and a decreased risk of colon cancer, hip fractures and diabetes mellitus.
While the conclusion of the Women's Health Initiative was that the risks of HRT outweighed the benefits, the study focused on women whose average age was 65 years at the start of the trial.
This new study categorized the women who participated in 30 studies and analyzed the mortality of women 60 or under and women 60 and older. They found that hormone replacement reduced mortality in the younger age group, but not in the older age group. For all ages combined, hormone therapy did not significantly affect the risk for cardiovascular or cancer mortality, but reduced mortality from other causes.
Dr. Shelley Salpeter, a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and daughter of the senior author says the current study finding is similar to the results of the Nurses' Health Study, which took place before the Women's Health Initiative.
"That large prospective study found that women who started treatment within two years of menopause had a total mortality risk of 0.63 of nonusers (37 percent lower)," Salpeter said. "Our findings are consistent with this result and suggest that HRT may help prevent and perhaps even halt the progression of cardiovascular disease when started in women in early postmenopause."
She notes, however, that the accumulated evidence suggests that once heart disease has already developed, HRT has no effect in reversing the process. In fact, heart attacks could even be increased in this older age group due to an increased risk for blood clots.
"The beneficial effects of HRT in younger postmenopausal women appear to be due to HRT's ability to increase high-density lipoproteins (HDL), or "good" fats and reduce low-density lipoproteins (LDL) or "bad" fats, glucose, weight, insulin levels, the incidence of new-onset diabetes and a handful of other risk factors for heart diseases," says Shelley Salpeter.
The authors conclude that each woman should make the decision regarding hormone replacement on an individual basis, taking into consideration her age, the degree of bothersome postmenopausal symptoms and her underlying health-risk factors.
Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 NexCura, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of cancerfacts.com content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of NexCura. NexCura® is a registered trademark and cancerfacts.com™ is a trademark of NexCura, Inc. or its affiliates. Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. All rights reserved. This information is for educational purposes only.
|
|
|
|
|
|
