Hormonal Replacement Therapy Does Not Affect Women’s Death Rates

Menopausal hormonal therapy does not put women at increased risk for death, according to long-term follow-up from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trials published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The lead author was JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., DrPH, from Harvard Medical School.

In the WHI study, nearly 27,000 postmenopausal women were given a female hormone therapy or placebo, and followed for 28 years. The study concluded that the death rate was similar in both groups. This was true for both heart disease and cancer mortality. In other words, those who took hormonal therapy are no more likely to die of any cause than women who were given only a placebo.

Dr. Obron feels that for women with menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness and other troubling symptoms, hormone therapy appears to be both safe and effective. Overall, the findings of this study should reassure women that hormonal therapy is a reasonable option for symptomatic women who are in early menopause and in overall good health.

For the complete article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, click here.