HRT won't kill you - but menopausal women still face a difficult decision

A study this week concluded HRT does not shorten lives – but it still increases the risk of cancer, leaving those suffering symptoms with a tough choice to makeHormone replacement therapy (HRT), possibly the most controversial medicine ever invented,will not kill you. That was theconclusion this week of a big, respectable study in the United States that was one of the first to flag up the risk of breast cancer. Women who took the tablets to alleviate the hot flushes and night sweats that assail them, prevent them sleeping and can make life intolerable were no more likely to be dead 18 years later than women who did not.That ’s good news and it was loudly celebrated. Gynaecologists who have been frustrated and dismayed by the bad press HRT has had, leaving them groping in the dark for something else to give the distressed woman in the consulting room who doesn’t want hormones, said this is proof of its safety. The r isks are low. Women must be told about them, but they should not be deterred by any thought that HRT could shorten their life.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Menopause Medical research Women Health Science Society & wellbeing Source Type: news