United States: In this last research study conducted to find out if hormone therapy is really effective in treating menopause or if it is just a big risk, the benefits of hormone therapy outweigh its associated risks.
More about the finding
Dr. JoAnn Manson, the study author and the chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said, “Among women below the age of 60, we found hormone therapy has a low risk of adverse events and [is] safe for treating bothersome hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopausal symptoms” as NPR News reported.
The new findings appeared as a departure from the advice which a number of women had been given in the past.
The conclusion of the study was published in the medical journal JAMA.
How was the study conducted?
The new finding was based on the twenty years of follow-up study of data from the Women’s Health Initiative study. It was gathered from thousands of women who were going through hormone replacement therapy.
However, the study was stopped after it was found that women taking Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin, were posing high risks, such as breast cancer and stroke.
Manson said, “The findings were surprising,” while noting that the reason for conducting a randomized trial was due to the scientists who were trying to reach a conclusion on whether hormone therapy is decreasing the risk of heart disease and other conditions.
Once the first results were published, many women with high-risk breast cancer just stopped the therapy. Prescriptions were withered significantly, and partners remained cautious. Still, some medical professionals are reluctant to suggest hormone therapy.
However, menopause specialists claim that it is high time to re-thinking hormone therapy, as we know today much more about the topic compared to the last two decades, as NPR News reported.
However, in addition to different kinds of hormones, which are given in lower doses and have been shown to be safer, there are also various other treatments that prevent the long-term health issues related to menopause.
Dr. Lauren Streicher, who is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said, “Women should know that hormone therapy is safe and beneficial,” as NPR News reported.
She added, “We learned what not to do,” and mentioned that the variant of progestin used, known as medroxyprogesterone acetate, was “highly problematic.”
So, according to her, this may have been related to an increase in breast cancer, commonly seen in women as found in the earlier studies, “So we don’t prescribe that anymore,” said Streicher.
Moreover, other kinds of hormones are used, such as micronized progesterone, which do not raise the risk of breast cancer, as Streicher stated.
Micronized progesterone is a kind of bioidentical hormone that has a molecular structure identical to the progesterone manufactured by women’s ovaries and tends to have fewer side effects.
Streicher said the range of vulnerability of the condition is between ages 50 and 60.