Women back at square one over HRT
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) was once hailed as the risk-free therapy that would give women going through the menopause the next best thing to a second youth.
It was over-hyped, with many female celebrities endorsing it.
Undoubtedly, many Irish women find it dramatically reduces the symptoms of the change of life like hot flushes.
It also helps to replenish the hormones oestrogen and progesterone caused by the menopause.
Then about a decade ago several studies linked HRT to increased risk of breast cancer and many women were afraid to take it. Now, we learn those studies were flawed.
On further analysis, researchers who looked at how the studies were carried out found there was no proven link with increased risk of breast cancer.
But the problem for women is that there is no evidence either that it has no risk. So they are back at square one.
The original studies which sparked concern said that women who had taken HRT were twice as likely to develop breast cancer and more likely to die.
The new analysis was done by researchers from the University of Cape Town, UK universities and published in the 'Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care'.
It looked at each of these previous studies against nine criteria that would need to be met before it was possible to say whether HRT caused breast cancer.
One of these, for example, is whether the women had taken HRT before getting the cancer.
The conclusion of the new research was that all three studies failed to meet the majority of the criteria.
They said HRT may or may not increase the risk of breast cancer and none of the three studies is able to establish that it does.
So what should women do now? Most experts agree that if HRT is used on a short-term basis for no more than five years, the benefits far outweigh possible risks.
The other advice is that any potential cancer risk associated with HRT reduces to a normal level five years after a woman stops taking it.
Also, be aware that there is no evidence that comple-mentary or alternative thera-pies taken without medical evidence are effective.
They can also interfere with other medications a woman is taking.
Originally published in
