A LARGE international study has found that some hormone replacement therapy (HRT) preparations taken by women to alleviate menopausal symptoms are linked to a higher risk of heart disease and rare but serious blood clots.
The team, which included researchers from the Garvan Institute, compared the rate of a clots, strokes, heart disease and heart attacks among nearly 80,000 women using HRT with nearly 850,000 women not using HRT.
Various links were found between the different HRT medications and the health complications they looked at.
Use of oral combined oestrogen and progestin therapy was associated with an increased risk of heart disease and blood clots, and the use of tibolone was associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and heart attacks but not blood clots.
Some previous trials have suggested a link between menopausal hormone therapy and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but information on risks linked to different types and formats of therapy during menopausal transition age is lacking, the researchers said.
Eight different therapies were considered: oral combined continuous, oral combined sequential, oral unopposed oestrogen, oral oestrogen with local progestin, tibolone, transdermal combined, transdermal unopposed oestrogen, or no menopausal hormone therapy.
The team found no increased risk of cardiovascular disease for transdermal treatments, including skin patches - which are currently in short supply (PD 21 Nov), gels and creams.
"These findings highlight the diverse effects of different hormone combinations and administration methods on the risk of cardiovascular disease," the researchers said. KB
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