Study: Hormone Therapy may be good short-term option to relieve menopause symptoms.

The Wall Street Journal (10/2, Beck, Subscription Publication, 5.91M) reports that research (10/2, 730K) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that while hormone therapy may be a good short-term option to relieve symptoms of menopause, it should not be used to protect against chronic diseases.

        USA Today (10/1, Painter, 5.82M) reports that researchers looked at data from the Women’s Health Initiative. The new study’s findings, which were “based on 13 years of follow-up and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, show a complex mix of risks and benefits for women who take estrogen either alone or with progestin.” The researchers found that “on balance, the risks – including increases in heart disease and breast cancer for many women – outweigh the benefits when the hormones are used for anything other than relief of moderate to severe menopause symptoms.”

        The New York Times (10/2, Grady, Subscription Publication, 9.61M) reports that the researchers found that “for combined hormones, for every 10,000 women taking the drugs...there were six additional instances of heart problems, nine more strokes, nine more blood clots in the lungs and nine more cases of breast cancer.” However, “there were six fewer cases of colorectal cancer, one fewer case of uterine cancer, six fewer hip fractures and one fewer death.” The majority “of the effects wore off once the drugs were stopped, but the risk of breast cancer remained slightly elevated.”

        Forbes (10/1, 6.03M) contributor Larry Husten writes that among women who only received estrogen, HRT “was associated with an increased risk for stroke and venous thrombosis, and a lowered risk for hip and total fractures.” The researchers “were surprised by and at a loss to explain a small nonsignificant drop in breast cancer.” Meanwhile, “women under the age of 60 in this group also had small but signifcant reductions in all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction.”

        The Boston Globe (10/2, Kotz, 1.75M) “Daily Dose” blog reports that in an accompanying editorial (10/2, 730K), Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, former director of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, wrote, “These findings demonstrate that menopausal hormone therapy has a complex profile of risks and benefits.” Dr. Nabel added, “Even though short-term use of hormone therapy may be useful for menopausal symptom relief ... long-term use of hormone therapy for chronic disease prevention is not warranted.” Also covering the story are Reuters (10/2, Seaman, Brooks), CNN (10/1, 14.53M), MedPage Today (10/2, Fiore, 122K), HealthDay (10/2, Norton, 5K),Medscape (10/2, Hand, 164K), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (10/2, Townsend, 966K).