Women entering menopause should not worry about hormone replacement therapy – despite a highly publicized study that puts off many women from the drugs.
Hormone therapy was popular until 2002 when Women’s Health Initiative study suggested it could raise the risk not only of breast and ovarian cancer, but also strokes and other serious conditions.
Researchers told a global menopause summit in Madrid that a 2002 study which discouraged many women from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was flawed, as the subject group was relatively old and suffered from other conditions that all boosted risk.
The message is that each woman should discuss her general health and risk factors such as family history…with her doctor, but generally healthy women entering the menopause should not have fears.
Valerie Beral, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford cautioned that the Pines-led review only looked at a fraction of the evidence, saying regulators recommend women only use HRT for short periods.
The review does not agree with regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom, U.S. or Europe who have reviewed the totality of the evidence.
Source: Reuters
