The Growing List of Health Risks Linked to HRT Use

The Growing List of Health Risks Linked to HRT Use

If I had a dollar for every negative report I’ve read about synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT), I would have plenty of extra cash, but I wouldn’t bet a single nickel of it that the drug makers who manufacture this dangerous therapy will ever do the right thing and remove it from the market.

To the growing list of health risks linked to HRT use (a list that already includes heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer), we can now add the risk of ovarian cancer.

According to a report in The Lancet, women who use HRT may be 20 percent more likely to die from ovarian cancer. This conclusion is based on the most recent results of the ongoing UK research project known as the Million Women Study.

In spite of this new development, a report in New Scientist offers some dubious encouragement: “But doctors stressed that younger women who need the drugs to relieve serious menopausal symptoms should still consider taking HRT, because new, lower-dose formulations are available that can be prescribed for shorter periods of time.”

Two questions:
1) Who are these “doctors”? New Scientist doesn’t tell us, but we do know one thing about them: They don’t seem deeply concerned about potential health risks.
2) Shorter periods of time? What if a woman fills the prescription and then throws it away? Given the known health risks, that seems like it would be a reliably safe “shorter period of time.”

If you’re a woman who’s experiencing menopause symptoms, you can find information about bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (a safe alternative to synthetic HRT) in the e-Alert “Where’s the Shame?” (2/7/06) at this link: http://www.hsionline.com/ealerts/ea200602/ea20060207.html

Sources:
“Ovarian Cancer and HRT in the Million Women Study” The Lancet, Early online publication 4/19/07, thelancet.com
“HRT Increases Risk of Dying from Ovarian Cancer” New Scientist, 4/19/07, newscientist.com