Mar 4, 2008 4:34 pm US/Eastern
Health: Hormone Replacement Therapy
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Millions of women
stopped taking hormone replacement therapy in 2002 after researchers found it
increases the risk for a variety of diseases.
Heart disease issues, started to
diminish right away, but new research published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association found the risk for breast cancer continued for three years.
"The hormones may have
triggered the development of breast cancer and that's why you see an increase
after you stop hormones," said Dr. Katherine Sherif, the
Director of Drexel's
Center for Women's Health. She continues to write prescriptions for hormone
replacement therapy, especially for younger women in their 50's to ease the
symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes.
The
dangers of HRT were mainly found in older women, who were long term users. The
new study covered 15 thousand women between the ages of 50 to 79. They were
about 27 percent more likely to develop breast cancer after they stopped taking
the combination progestin and estrogen.
"Many
breast cancers are responsive to estrogen. Estrogen makes them grow. And then
when you give hormones it makes the tumors grow faster," said Dr.
Sherif.
Also in this study, researchers were
surprised to find new risks of other cancers, like lung tumors, in women who
took HRT for about five years.Doctors say it's
critical that women get regular screenings for cancer like mammograms and
cholesterol checks because early detection saves lives.Hormone Replacement Therapy
Information- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hormonereplacementtherapy.html
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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