Hormone therapy can help with menopause symptoms, but likely won't prevent health issues down the track

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-02 01:00

International

Photo by LOGAN WEAVER | @LGNWVR on Unsplash

Menopausal hormone therapy is a useful treatment for women with uncomfortable symptoms during menopause but is unlikely to help prevent other health problems down the track, according to international research. The researchers were involved in a series of clinical trials looking at the health impacts of menopausal hormone therapy, calcium plus vitamin D supplementation and a low-fat dietary pattern on about 160,000 post-menopausal women over a 20-year period. The researchers looked at the rate of cardiovascular disease, dementia and other chronic diseases, and say there was no difference in risk for those who took menopausal hormone therapy. The researchers say their findings don't support recommending all post-menopausal women take vitamin D and calcium supplements, however, they can be useful for those who aren't getting enough in their diet. A low-fat diet could be associated with a lower rate of death from breast cancer, the researchers say, but there is no evidence the diet reduces the risk of developing breast or colorectal cancer.

Media release

From: JAMA

About The Study: For postmenopausal women, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) randomized clinical trials do not support menopausal hormone therapy to prevent cardiovascular disease or other chronic diseases. Menopausal hormone therapy is appropriate to treat bothersome vasomotor symptoms among women in early menopause, without contraindications, who are interested in taking hormone therapy. The WHI evidence does not support routine supplementation with calcium plus vitamin D for menopausal women to prevent fractures or a low-fat diet with increased fruits, vegetables, and grains to prevent breast or colorectal cancer. A potential role of a low-fat dietary pattern in reducing breast cancer mortality, a secondary outcome, warrants further study.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research JAMA, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: JAMA

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Harvard Medical School, USA

Funder: The WHI program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, through contracts 75N92021D00001, 75N92021D00002, 75N92021D00003, 75N92021D00004, and 75N92021D00005. Active and placebo study pills for the trials were donated byWyeth Ayerst (hormone therapy trials) and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (calcium and vitamin D supplementation trial).

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.