HRT reduces death risk

women who go for HRT before they turn 60 reduce their death risk by almost 39 per cent.

Clinical trials conducted by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities have revealed that women who go for Hormone Replacement Therapy before they turn 60 reduce their death risk by almost 39 per cent.

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"The results of our analysis indicate that the benefits of HRT outweigh the risks in women who have recently entered menopause," Edwin E. Salpeter, professor of physics emeritus at Cornell said.

However the authors note that that the accumulated evidence suggests that once heart disease has already developed, HRT has no effect in reversing the process. In fact, heart attacks could even be increased in this older age group due to an increased risk for blood clots.

"The beneficial effects of HRT in younger postmenopausal women appear to be due to HRT's ability to increase high-density lipoproteins ("good" fats) and reduce low-density lipoproteins ("bad" fats), glucose, weight, insulin levels, the incidence of new-onset diabetes and a handful of other risk factors for heart diseases," Shelly R. Salpeter, the first author of the study and a clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, said.

She points out that the meta-analysis found no change in breast cancer deaths or total cancer deaths in women of all ages on HRT compared with those not on it, and it also showed a significant decrease in the risk of deaths from causes other than cancer or cardiovascular events, perhaps due to HRT's other benefits.

These other benefits include reduction in hip fracture and new-onset diabetes mellitus and also a cut down in recurrent urinary tract infections.

The authors conclude that each woman should make the decision regarding hormone replacement on an individual basis, taking into consideration her age, the degree of bothersome postmenopausal symptoms and her underlying health-risk factors.