ANAHEIM, Mar 13 (Reuters Health) -- Hormone replacement therapy does not
improve heart disease in postmenopausal women who already have been diagnosed
with the illness. However, hormone treatment is also not harmful for such women,
researchers reported here on Monday at the American College of Cardiology
meeting.
Hormone replacement therapy is thought to have numerous beneficial effects
for healthy women, such as reduction of osteoporosis and heart disease risk.
Two years ago, the Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS)
showed that 4 years of hormone replacement therapy did not reduce heart attack
risk in postmenopausal women with heart disease.
Now, Dr. David Herrington of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, and colleagues found similar results when they looked at blockages of
heart arteries in women with heart disease. The women were taking either
estrogen alone, estrogen plus progestin (a synthetic version of the hormone
progesterone), or an inactive placebo drug.
After more than 3 years of treatment, there was no difference between the
three groups in terms of progression of their heart disease.
"These findings support the HERS trial," Herrington said. "It adds to the
growing body of evidence that once you have established disease, estrogen can't
reverse disease. But it still leaves open the issue that estrogen may be helpful
in preventive efforts," he told Reuters Health. "The main message for women and
their doctors is to take full advantage of medications, and not just use hormone
replacement therapy alone (for management of risk)."
