Women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to ease menopause symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats may be no more likely to die prematurely than women who don’t take hormones, a new study suggests.
Many women have been reluctant to use hormones for menopause symptoms since 2002, when the federally funded Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study linked the treatments containing man-made versions of the female hormones estrogen and progestin to an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes.
The current study, however, looked at longer-term data from the WHI study and found no increased risk of death from all causes, or from cancer or cardiovascular issues in particular, associated with hormone use.
“Women seeking treatment for distressing hot flashes, night sweats or other menopausal symptoms may find the mortality results reassuring,” said lead study author Dr. JoAnn Manson of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
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Many women have been reluctant to use hormones for menopause symptoms since 2002, when the federally funded Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study linked the treatments containing man-made versions of the female hormones estrogen and progestin to an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes.
The current study, however, looked at longer-term data from the WHI study and found no increased risk of death from all causes, or from cancer or cardiovascular issues in particular, associated with hormone use.
“Women seeking treatment for distressing hot flashes, night sweats or other menopausal symptoms may find the mortality results reassuring,” said lead study author Dr. JoAnn Manson of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
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