Replacement Hormones – Who’s listening?

Menopause, heart disease, bone fractures, cancer risk: should women be taking replacement hormones? This is Dr. Steven Andrew Davis, Speaking of Health.

A research team from Stanford University’s School of Medicine, in an article published by the AMA, looked at the ups and downs of hormone replacement use based on perceived benefits and risks from it. And it’s been an endocrinologic roller coaster. In the 1970’s, replacement hormone use rose as women moved to prevent heart disease and osteoporosis. In the 80’s, hormone replacement use declined “as evidence emerged showing an increased risk of (uterine) cancer (for women using only estrogens). So women started taking estrogens combined with progestins, and prescriptions again rose through the 1990’s. But in 2002, landmark studies concluded that combination hormone increased both cardiovascular disease and breast cancer in post-menopausal women. Did, then, the use of these drugs change in the last 2 years? National prescription databases say yes – doctors quickly prescribed these combinations less for previously perceived long-term benefits, while still prescribing them for female patients with menopausal symptoms of in who the benefits otherwise outweigh the risks.

An endocrinologic rollercoaster: did I say that? Speaking of Health, I’m Dr. Steven Andrew Davis, for CBS news.

Ref: Hersh, Al, et al: JAMA. 2004: 291: 47 – 53..