A Reversal On Hormone Therapy

New report finds that women who began hormone therapy near menopause had about a 30% lower risk for heart disease than women who didn't use hormones. In an about-face in thinking about the risks and benefits of menopause hormones, new research show that early use of the drugs may actually lower a woman's risk of heart disease. Researchers questioning study The finding, published in January 2006 in the Journal of Women's Health, contradicts warnings issued nearly four years ago that hormone use increases risk for heart attack and stroke. That widely publicized warning, based on the government-funded Women's Health Initiative study, caused million of women to abandon hormone replacement therapy. Since that 2002 warning, a number of researchers have questioned the WHI finding, and pointed out that the design of the study didn't necessarily apply to the typical hormone user-women who turn to the drugs to treat menopause symptoms. Most of the 27,000 participants in the WHI clinical trial were older women who started hormones 10 or more years past menopause, and were age 63 on average at the time they started hormones. New thinking about early HRT use The newest study bolters the theory that with hormones, timing is everything. Younger women who use the drugs at the onset of menopause likely face fewer risks and more benefits. "It's like some of the other things in science and medicine it's not that the studies were wrong, it's the way we have interpreted them, " says Hugh S. Taylor, associate professor, Yale. "I think we're going to see a theme developing here that estrogen is good if you start it early and use it appropriately. It may be one of the biggest flip-flops in medicine that we've seen." Finding your best treatment Some patients, who realize that they cannot tolerate the symptoms of the menopause, prefer to use bio-identical hormones. Bio-identical hormones have the same chemical structure as hormones that are made by the human body. To fully replicate the function of hormones that were originally naturally produced and present in the human body, the chemical structure must exactly match the original. The precise components of each person's therapy needs to be determined after physical examination, medical history, symptoms, and laboratory testing are considered. Close monitoring is essential to ensure that appropriate dosage adjustments are made. The goal of any form of hormone replacement therapy should be to provide an adequate supply of the deficient hormone in a form that is as close as possible to that which the body originally produced, therefore resulting in normal physiologic effects. Article provided to PRIME by The Counseling and Gynecology Group, which offers both traditional and bio-identical hormones to appropriate candidates. Dr. Max Chorowski and nurse practitioner Jenifer Fleming are well versed in both methods. They are located in East Longmeadow, MA. For appointments call: 413-525-4546. *(Portions of this article originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal of January 24, 2006.)