(Reuters) – The risks of taking hormone therapy to prevent heart disease and osteoporosis in post menopausal women far outweigh the benefits and such treatment is not recommended, according to new guidelines from an influential panel of U.S. health advisers.
The guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reaffirm the group’s 2005 guidelines recommending against the treatment.
They apply only to hormone therapy for prevention of chronic disease. They do not apply to the use of hormones to treat symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness, or to women under age 50 who have had a hysterectomy.
“Our recommendation is the same as it was for 2005,” said Dr. Kirstin Bibbins-Domingo, a researcher and internist at the University of California San Francisco and a member of the task force. Read full article.
