Hormone replacement therapy: the debate should continue.
Recent reports attributing a significant increased risk of breast cancer development, cardiac events, and Alzheimer's disease to the administration of estrogen-progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) require critical review, not blind acceptance. An appreciation of the numbers used to generate these conclusions, the abundance and strength of the studies that do not support them, the small size of the effect reported, even if arguably valid, and the persisting reported benefit of HRT on longevity should alert clinicians to the risks of accepting these studies as guidelines for patient management. The additional report from this same group that HRT has no effect on health-related quality of life deserves a good laugh, not serious consideration.
Bluming
Avrum Z
AZ
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000139:chemically induced*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016387:Women's Health