Can HRT in early menopause cut heart disease risk?

ConclusionThis double-blind RCT found that women taking HRT less than six years after the menopause had slower artery wall thickening than those taking a placebo. This represented the main measure of atherosclerosis progression tested; other measures showed no difference, so the results were not as conclusive as they could have been. Women taking HRT 10 or more years after menopause also showed no difference in atherosclerosis progression compared with a placebo, further complicating the picture.An important limitation of this study is the lack of a patient relevant endpoint, such as cardiovascular events or mortality. Previous studies from the 1980s have indicated that hormone therapy is linked to a reduction in heart disease in postmenopausal women, but had problems in the design of the research. As subsequent research failed to support the idea that hormone therapy prevents heart disease, it will be important to have well-designed studies with clinical outcomes.The number of women in the study, its randomised double-blind design, and average follow-up of five years help to build confidence in the study. The main ambiguity is whether the differing rates of artery thickening observed here are big enough to have an impact on a person's risk of heart attack or stroke.  The differences of 0.0078mm versus 0.0044mm per year for placebo and HRT groups were statistically convincing, but it's much less clear if they are clinically important. The researchers themselves describe the ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication Source Type: news