Hormone Trial Ceases Due To Risks
A large government research study, known as the Women's Health Initiative, was abruptly halted on Tuesday July 9th, five years into its 8 1/2-year run. The research, involving more than 16,000 women, began as a means of settling the debate over whether or not Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) benefits menopausal women. Menopause is brought about as a women ages and her ovaries begin to produce less of the key female hormone estrogen, whose absence may bring about any number of uncomfortable emotional and physical changes. Women in the treatment group received a commonly prescribed pharmaceutical HRT medication consisting of a combination of estrogen and progestin, while women in the non-treatment group received sugar pills as their placebos. It was believed that the introduction of synthetically derived hormone drugs into a women's body might alleviate menopausal symptoms and create positive side effects. As the study progressed, data began to emerge suggesting that the hormone drugs may cause more harm than good. After five years, results showed that the hormone therapy being used in the trial increased a woman's risk of invasive breast cancer by 26 percent, strokes by 41 percent and blood clots by 100 per cent. Also, researchers found that the risk of coronary heart disease did not decrease, as was originally thought. Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 17, 2002.
A large government research study, known as the Women's Health Initiative, was abruptly halted on Tuesday July 9th, five years into its 8 1/2-year run. The research, involving more than 16,000 women, began as a means of settling the debate over whether or not Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) benefits menopausal women. Menopause is brought about as a women ages and her ovaries begin to produce less of the key female hormone estrogen, whose absence may bring about any number of uncomfortable emotional and physical changes. Women in the treatment group received a commonly prescribed pharmaceutical HRT medication consisting of a combination of estrogen and progestin, while women in the non-treatment group received sugar pills as their placebos. It was believed that the introduction of synthetically derived hormone drugs into a women's body might alleviate menopausal symptoms and create positive side effects. As the study progressed, data began to emerge suggesting that the hormone drugs may cause more harm than good. After five years, results showed that the hormone therapy being used in the trial increased a woman's risk of invasive breast cancer by 26 percent, strokes by 41 percent and blood clots by 100 per cent. Also, researchers found that the risk of coronary heart disease did not decrease, as was originally thought. Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 17, 2002.