New Hormone Therapy info! - from Dr. Zuckerman

[Guest guest]

Note: forwarded message attached.

Dear Friends,

Although the number of women taking hormones is reportedly about one-third of what it was, that is still much higher than it should be, based on the risks and limited benefits. There is a new study that shows just how limited those benefits are. It suggests, for example, that a 50-year-old woman taking hormones can reduce hot flashes, but when she stops taking hormones 1-2 years later (as is strongly urged because of increased risk of breast cancer, stroke, Alzheimers, and other serious diseases), she is likely to experience the same level of hot flashes and other symptoms at 52 as she would have at 50. So, she has delayed the inevitable, and risked her life to do it. Less than half the women with moderate to severe symptoms are likely to benefit by having their symptoms reduced, and all patients would have still had some symptoms during treatment. Unfortunately, it's impossible to predict who will benefit (with reduced symptoms after getting off hormones) and who won't.

Billions of dollars have been spent on this treatment, and it continues. As you can see, there is continued speculation that perhaps some women will benefit, especially if they take hormones for many years. But, in fact, there is no research to indicate that those women avoid symptoms when they finally stop taking the hormones 5 or 10 or 20 years later, and considerable anecdotal evidence that the hot flashes and other symptoms plague most women whenever they get off hormones. Meanwhile, they have increased their risks of several devastating diseases.

I hope you'll send this article to anyone you think would be interested.

Best wishes,

Zuckerman, Ph.D.PresidentNational Research Center for Women & Families1701 K Street, NW, Suite 700Washington, DC 20006(202) 223-4000www.center4research.org

Wwashington Post Study Raises Doubts About Hormone Therapy for Women

By Marc KaufmanWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, July 13, 2005; A09

More than half of women who began hormone therapy to stop uncomfortable hot flashes and night sweats experienced those symptoms again once they stopped taking the drugs, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported yesterday.

Using data from a federal study of women's health, the researchers found that the delayed effect occurred in both younger and older women, including those nearing 70. The researchers advised doctors to explore alternative ways to treat menopausal symptoms.

"Before this study, we knew little about the effects a woman experiences when she suddenly stops menopausal hormone therapy use," said Sherry Sherman of the National Institute on Aging. "Now women are learning that their symptoms might return, even after using these hormones for more than five years."

The study looked at women in the large Women's Health Initiative study of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' Prempro hormone treatment, which was abruptly stopped in 2002 after it showed that women taking the drug were at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other potentially serious problems. The women in the new study were among those who suddenly stopped the treatment.

The researchers found that 55.5 percent of women who had moderate to severe hot flashes when they began taking hormone therapy experienced them again when they stopped, compared with 21 percent of those taking a placebo. For all women in the study, 21 percent had moderate to severe hot flashes after discontinuing, compared with 5 percent of those taking a placebo.

The journal authors -- led by Judith K. Ockene, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts Medical School -- said it is unclear how long women experienced renewed symptoms.

Isaac Schiff, head of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists task force on hormone treatment, said the new study quantifies a phenomenon that doctors had long observed.

But Schiff also said he sees nothing in the study to suggest a change in his organization's recommendation that hormone treatment should be available to women with severe menopausal symptoms. "Some women are going to have to take it for many, many years or else their symptoms will recur," he said.

The Food and Drug Administration now says hormone treatment be used for the shortest time possible, and at the lowest dosage.

ph Camardo, a Wyeth senior vice president, said the new study does not provide any new or surprising information. "We've known for some time that [hormone treatment] is effective while you take it, but when you stop taking it the symptoms can come back."

He said that Wyeth recommends that women consult their doctors in determining when and how they should stop treatment.

Some experts said the study adds to the reasons to avoid hormone therapy entirely.

"The bottom line is that the more we study hormone therapy, the less attractive it seems and the more we realize how much money women have been wasting," said Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.