HEALTHEstrogen-only study halted: Hormone therapy promise deflates to symptom controlNew data from the Women's Health Initiative fuel the mantra of short-term and low-dose use, but it's still not clear exactly what this means.By Victoria Stagg Elliott, amednews staff. March 22/29, 2004. The most recent round of findings regarding the effectiveness and risks of hormone therapy -- this time estrogen only -- appears to put the idea of HT's powers of prevention down for the count. "There's no preventive role for hormones of any type, and we really should limit their use as much as we can," said Monisha Seth, MD, an internist and director of women's services at Florida Hospital in Orlando. The knockout punch came earlier this month when the National Institutes of Health announced that letters had been sent to the more than 11,000 study participants in the estrogen-only arm of the Women's Health Initiative, advising them to stop taking their pills. Data gathered from an average of seven years of follow-up indicated that this formulation did not prevent heart disease but did increase the risk of stroke. "We have stopped the study in the interest of patient safety," said Barbara Alving, MD, director of the WHI, a 15-year examination of interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and cancer involving more than 160,000 healthy, postmenopausal women. "The NIH advises women to continue to follow the [Food and Drug Administration] guidance regarding hormone therapy and use it at the lowest doses for the shortest period of time." Halting this WHI arm marked the end of an era. Specifically, it piled on more information dispelling earlier beliefs that HT should be taken almost as readily as vitamins. HT is now only recommended for limited use for very specific indications. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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