Limits Of Hormone Therapy

Hormone Therapy Links To Heart Disease Prevention In Doubt

(CBS)  A new study casts doubt on the use of hormone replacement therapy to prevent heart disease. Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay reports.

The study in The Journal of the American Medical Association provides more evidence that hormone replacement therapy, HRT, does not help to prevent coronary events, like heart attacks, in women with heart disease.

Despite early evidence that hormone replacement therapy might provide some benefit, almost seven years of follow-up by researchers found there was no reduced risk of cardiovascular events.

It's still not clear from these studies whether hormone replacement therapy can help prevent the onset of heart disease.

Hormone replacement therapy is not usually prescribed for the prevention of heart disease, but millions of women, a third of women age 50 to 74 in this country, are on it for other reasons.

HRT can provide relief for women who suffer from symptoms of menopause like hot flashes that occur when the body no longer produces as much estrogen. The therapy also has been shown to reduce the bone loss that contributes to osteoporosis.

What got everybody excited in recent years were early results in studies of women with heart disease that seemed to indicate HRT reduced the risk of coronary events like a heart attacks.

Studies have shown there may be an increased risk of breast cancer from prolonged use of HRT. Estrogen is thought to fuel some types of breast cancer. For women who already have heart disease, the latest analyses showed an increased risk of blood clots and gallbladder disease over time, and previous studies showed an increased risk of coronary events during the first year of use, which tapers off after that time.

As we discover more and more about HRT, Senay says, it's not easy to know whether hormone replacement therapy is right for you. It's a decision that needs to be discussed with your doctor, weighing both risks and benefits.