Hormone Therapy Study Offers Good News for Women
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It's been two years since women received the shocking news that hormone therapy could be dangerous to their health if taken over an extended period of time. The Women's Health Initiative urged women to stop taking hormone therapy, but for those women who counted on the drugs to battle the symptoms of menopause... they were left out in the cold.
"Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for menopausal symptoms" says Dr. Nananda Col. Dr. Col is an Internist at Rhode Island Hospital and the lead author of a new study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study takes a second look at hormone therapy and what it has to offer.
Dr. Col says, "The purpose of our study was to help women weigh the benefits and risks of hormone therapy."
Ttwo years ago the Women's Health Initiative determined long-term hormone replacement therapy poses health risks such as heart disease and breast cancer. But, in the meantime, many women were suffering which is why Dr. Col's study is providing some hopeful news, "The scales can weigh in favor of hormone therapy for women who are having substantial menopausal symptoms." Syptoms such as constant and severe hot flashes, night sweats that interrupt sleep, and severe mood disturbances. Researchers determined that in many of these cases a woman's quality of life can be greatly improved with short-term hormone therapy, which is generally taken for one to two years. Dr. Col's study gives women and their doctors specific guidelines in an effort to help them determine whether or not the benefits actually outweigh their risks. The bottom line, Dr. Col admits long-term use should not be a consideration but, she says, hormone therapy should not be completely ruled out,. "The goal, I think, when women start hormone therapy now, should not be that they're not gonna take this for the rest of their lives but they're gonna take it for one to two years and then re-evaluate."
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