HRT Debate Not Over Yet

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Since then, a debate has raged about the utility and safety of HRT, with health officials advising women to take HRT only when needed and for as short a period as possible.

The latest news may spur some additional women to abandon HRT, but the numbers are not likely to change much, experts said.

"We have seen fewer patients on HRT since the WHI trial, but the study last week isn't necessarily going to decrease the numbers even more," said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "I don't think we'll see a dramatic decrease necessarily from the study last week, because we saw that decrease already with the WHI."

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According to Bloomberg News, women moved away from the hormone therapy products Premarin and Prempro (made by Wyeth Inc.) after the 2002 WHI results were announced. Now the company is selling lower-dose versions to be used for shorter intervals.

"All of us involved in postmenopausal care are going to field another round of very confused patients, and it's going to reinforce what we've been doing since the WHI came out," Rayburn added. "We began rethinking our philosophy on prescribing, and I think it's healthy for us to remember that estrogen or estrogen plus progesterone are drugs, and drugs have risks and should be utilized only for the appropriate indications after patients have been provided a full disclosure of risk and benefits."

Women with severe menopausal symptoms are likely to continue with hormone therapy.

"There's still a certain number of patients who say, 'I cannot live like this, I need medications, I will accept the risk,' " Wu said. "They see a night and day difference with HRT. The ones that are asking for it are pretty desperate ones, and the desperate ones have been asking for it since WHI."

More information

For more on HRT, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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