USPSTF Issues New Report on Hormone Replacement Therapy
The United States Preventive Services Task Force recently updated its statement regarding hormone replacement therapy, indicating that HRT is not recommended for preventing chronic disease among post-menopausal women because the health risks it poses outweigh its potential benefits.
The statement, published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, does not apply to the use of HRT for managing certain symptoms of menopause, nor does it apply to women younger than 50 who have had a hysterectomy.
The USPSTF's review of research published since 2005, when it last published recommendations about post-menopause use of HRT, revealed that combined estrogen and progestin therapy after menopause reduces the risk of bone fractures. But women taking that combined hormone therapy do not decrease their risk of heart disease, and they are at increased risk of breast cancer, stroke, blood clots, gallbladder disease, dementia and urinary incontinence.
For more information, see this post from "The Checkup" blog section of The Washington Post.