Hormone replacement therapy: pros and cons
According to the data presented by a group of experts at the World Congress on the Menopause, hormone replacement therapy may have an acceptable level of safety in many women aged 50-59 years. The authors suggested that the association between hormone replacement therapy and an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, as well as breast cancer, as reported in a study by the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), was based on incomplete results.
Scientists evaluated the data obtained in several studies, including WHI, and concluded that the use of estrogen in combination with progesterone in healthy women aged 50-59 years did not increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In addition, an effect was noted for estrogen that prevents the development of this pathology. The combination of estrogen and progesterone was associated with a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer (approximately 8 additional cases per 10,000 women annually, which, according to the researchers, is the minimum).
The co-author of the study, David Sturdee, noted that hormone replacement therapy is the most effective against the symptoms of menopause and improving the quality of life of women, but reports about the risks associated with it that have appeared in print over the past few years have prevented many from resorting to this type of treatment.
At the same time, Valerie Beral, a professor at the University of Oxford, said that the latest study had serious shortcomings and refers to only a small proportion of the results, so it is better to carry out a course of treatment with hormone replacement therapy for a short period. She stressed that the regulatory authorities of the UK, USA and Europe examined the data on hormone replacement therapy and came to a different conclusion.
Thus, the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (UKMedicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) concluded that the current guidelines advising relatively strict restrictions on the use of hormone replacement therapy are correct.
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