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Hormone Replacement Therapy: Hurt or Harm?

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): does it hurt or harm women? Doctors at Boston University Medical Center bring us up-to-date on the topic in this review article. Millions of American women were using HRT for menopausal symptoms until the late 1990s. Studies of nurses found that it increased the risk of cancer. Studies were halted, and many women stopped taking the hormones.

The authors review studies reported on HRT from that time to the present. Here is what they report:

  • HRT doesn't reduce heart attacks or strokes in postmenopausal women.
  • HRT increases the risk of blood clots to the lungs.
  • HRT increases the risk of breast and uterine cancer.
  • HRT does decrease the number of fractures from osteoporosis.

    New guidelines have been made for the use of HRT. First, it should only be used for women at great risk of osteoporosis. Second, other drugs are available to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Third, when using HRT, the lowest dose should be prescribed for the shortest time possible.

    The take-home message is: don't take HRT to prevent osteoporosis now that there are other drugs available. Only take HRT when the risk of disease is greater than the bad side effects of the hormone therapy.

    • Reference: 

    Heather V. Lochner, MD, and Thomas A. Einhorn, MD. Advances in Therapeutics and Diagnostics: Hormone Replacement Therapy. In Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. September/October 2004. Vol. 12. No. 5. Pp. 291-294.

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