Hormone therapy doesn’t appear to have a harmful effect on cognitive function in younger postmenopausal women, according to a study that also showed the treatment didn’t benefit the brain.
Tag: hormone therapy
Hot Flashes and Hormones: A Complex Issue
When night sweats, hot flashes and other signs of menopause come to call, many women find themselves desperate to soothe their symptoms. For some, the search for relief will lead them to consider bioidentical hormone therapy, a treatment that has been popularized by such celebrities as Suzanne Somers and Oprah Winfrey. Proponents say bioidentical hormones are natural, effective and safe, but is that true?
Hormone Therapy May Cut Alzheimer’s Risk in Menopausal Women
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The latest data from a long-running study of hormone therapy suggests women who started taking hormone replacements within five years of menopause were 30 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than women who started years later.
The findings, reported on Wednesday in the journal Neurology, add to evidence suggesting that taking hormone treatments around the time of menopause may be doing more than just helping women cope with hot flashes and night sweats. Read full article.
Hormone Therapy Not Recommended for Disease Prevention: U.S. Panel
(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.
American Society for Reproductive Medicine Comments on US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations on Hormone Therapy
It is very important that patients understand what this report does not say: it does not recommend against the use of hormone therapy for the relief of menopausal symptoms.
Hormone Therapy Safe in Early Menopause
Researchers in Denmark have become the first to offer statistical proof that hormone therapy is not only safe for menopausal women who begin it early — it actually reduces their risk of mortality, heart attack and heart failure.
The 16-year randomized study of about a thousand women offers new proof that the “timing hypothesis,” which suggests that hormone therapy protects women from heart disease if they start it soon after their last menstrual period, is correct. Researchers also saw no difference in breast cancer risk between those who were assigned the hormone therapy and those who were not. Read full article.
Taking Breaks From Prostate Cancer Hormone Therapy Seems Safe: Study
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) — Stop-and-start hormone-deprivation therapy for localized prostate cancer doesn’t shorten overall survival compared to continuous treatments, andyields fewer side effects such as impotence and hot flashes, a large new study suggests.
A team of Canadian, British and American researchers found that intermittent hormone treatments — which suppress circulating male hormones such as testosterone that “feed” prostate tumors — don’t increase the risk of disease progression. Intermittent treatment also doesn’t increase the chances that patients whose prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are slowly rising will eventually die from prostate cancer. Read full article.
Women Face Decision on Risks, Benefits of Hormone Therapy
For women of a certain age, there comes a moment of truth. The moment arrives after sleepless nights, a lot of sweat and maybe even some tears.
Inevitably, though, virtually all women must make a decision: Can I endure the symptoms of menopause or should I undertake hormone replacement therapy?
Oddly enough, there is no single — or simple — answer for all women. Your best friend may have the same symptoms or none. The same goes for your sister, and even your mother’s experience is of no help because menopause is a highly personalized condition. Treatments also vary depending on the severity of the symptoms and the person — some need a single hormone, others combinations of two hormones. Other medications also can help, including birth control pills, anti-anxiety drugs and even natural remedies.
“We have to talk about it,” said Dr. Nigel Delahunty of Greer Ob/Gyn. “We inform them of all the potential risks and see what they need and want.”
Delahunty has been practicing medicine for 17 years, and during that time the way to help women get through their menopausal years — in terms of the use and popularity of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) — has changed dramatically.
“It has fluctuated over time,” said Dr. Margery Gass, executive director of The North American Menopause Society based in Cleveland. “But what has remained the same is that estrogen has been effective in treating symptoms for more than 30 years.”
15 Top Medical Organizations Agree on Hormone Therapy Use; 10 Years Have Passed Since Women’s Health Initiative Raised Questions
After 10 years of debate regarding the risks and benefits of hormone therapy, 15 top medical organizations have come together to issue a statement of agreement regarding the benefits of hormone therapy for symptomatic menopausal women.
Hormone Therapy Undergoes 10-Year Review
A systematic review of nine randomized, placebo-controlled trials published to assess the effectiveness of menopausal hormone therapy in the prevention of chronic conditions revealed: estrogen plus progestin and estrogen alone decreased risk for fractures but increased risk for stroke, thromboembolic events, gallbladder disease, and urinary incontinence; estrogen plus progestin increased risk for breast cancer and probable dementia; and estrogen alone decreased risk for breast cancer.
At one time, menopausal hormone therapy was routinely used by postmenopausal women to prevent cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis and other chronic conditions. However, once initial results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trials emerged in 2002 indicating important adverse health effects of this treatment, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued recommendations against using hormone therapy to prevent chronic conditions for estrogen plus progestin in 2002, and for estrogen only in 2005.