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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The debate over the health effects of hormone replacement therapy rages on.
The latest comes from researchers who studied a key marker of heart disease risk in women taking part in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, which was the large clinical trial that was stopped early because results linked the therapy to breast cancer and other risks.
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As soon as the study ended, investigators enrolled women taking part in the estrogen-only arm into another study aimed at looking at the magnitude of their coronary calcifications. Coronary calcifications lead to hardening of the arteries and are well known for their role in causing heart attacks and other heart problems.
The women underwent CT scans to measure the calcifications. Women who were randomized to receive estrogen in the original study had significantly lower rates of calcification than women randomized to a placebo.
The authors stop short of concluding estrogen protects women's hearts, however, noting they can't be sure reduced levels of calcification are a reliable measure of heart disease in women. In fact, some studies suggest women may be more affected by a type of heart disease involving the small vessels of the heart.
In an accompanying editorial, fellow researchers agree, pointing out the study also had no way to gauge calcification levels in the women before they entered the WHI study, so it is hard to say whether estrogen really played a role or not.
The bottom line? Younger women who need estrogen due to a hysterectomy may be reassured about taking the therapy on a short-term basis, notes Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, which funded the study. But the current recommendations against long-term use stand.
"We must emphasize . . . that these findings do not alter the current recommendations that when hormone therapy is used for menopausal symptoms, it should only be taken at the smallest dose and for the shortest time possible, and hormone therapy should never be used to prevent heart disease," she was quoted as saying.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, published online June 20, 2007
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