Hormone safetu fear 'was wrong''' was it?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I came across an article (in today's local newspaper), copy/pasted

below which attempts to get a message across that the

warning about HRT (hormone replacement therapy) 5 years ago

was really premature.

Having a bit of a blank here..lol..I wonder if I am reading this message

correctly.. it's almost as if there is something missing...

Would this be a veiled attempt to get women back on

it? The article as such doesn't provide clear references except for

a revised interpretation of the U.S.

Women's Health Initiative Study.

Anyhow, if anyone reading this article has

some subconscious thoughts on this article, please

share it here.

Regards

Hanneke ~ Australia

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21529135-910,00.html

Hormone safety fear `was wrong'FRANCES

STEWART

April 10, 2007 02:15am

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WOMEN have been scared into unnecessarily abandoning hormone

replacement therapy, according to research which has apparently debunked

its previous links to heart disease and strokes.

A revised interpretation of the U.S. Women's Health Initiative Study

has thrown out the 2002 warning that led between 40 and 55 per cent of

South Australian women on HRT to reject the treatment.

Finding that the previous warning was significantly flawed, the new

report suggests HRT may actually help to prevent the diseases it was

accused of causing.

University of Adelaide Research Centre for Reproductive Health director

Professor Robert Norman said many women had immediately stopped hormone

therapy after hearing the initial warning.

 

The 2002 trial studied women aged 50-79. It reported that women on HRT

were 29 per cent more likely to have heart problems, 41 per cent more

likely to have a stroke and at a 26 per cent greater risk of developing

breast cancer than those not receiving it. The latest analysis, carried

out by many of the same researchers, looked at the same data but focused

on whether the health effects varied with age.

It found women who started HRT shortly after menopause were not more

likely to develop heart problems and that their risk was actually 24 per

cent lower than those not using hormones.

In contrast, women who started HRT 20 years or more past menopause faced

a 28 per cent higher risk of heart problems.

Many organisations said at the time that most of the women taking part

were much older than those usually given HRT.

Dr Rosie Jones of the Adelaide Private Menopause clinic said that

patients and doctors were " seriously misled " by the original

report. " What they did was ask the right questions of the wrong

people, " she said.

The new report discovered that the risks were mostly to older patients,

with HRT actually boosting the health of the women in their 50s – who are

most likely to use it.