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Birth Control Pills, HRT Tied to Digestive Ills

Posted 6 days ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, May 21 – The use of oral contraceptives by younger women or hormone therapy by older women may be linked with inflammatory bowel disease, new research indicates. Birth control pills are associated with a higher risk for Crohn's disease, said researcher Dr. Hamed Khalili, a clinical and research fellow of gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Crohn's causes inflammation of the lining and wall of the large or small intestine, or both. The lining can become so inflamed it bleeds. Hormone replacement therapy taken by some women after menopause is linked with ulcerative colitis, the study found. It is a disease of the colon (large intestine) or rectum. It causes diarrhea, abdominal cramping and rectal bleeding. Khalili presented the findings Sunday at the Digestive Disease Week meeting, in San Diego. Of the two links they found, Khalili said, the association ... Read more

Long-Term Estrogen Therapy Does Up Breast Cancer Risk: Study

Posted 2 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, April 1 – Several weeks after a study suggested that women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement to treat menopause symptoms may be at lower risk for developing breast cancer, another, much-larger study finds that when used for longer than 10 years, estrogen-only regimens actually raise a woman's long-term risk for breast cancer. The new study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, whereas the previous one was partially funded by drug manufacturer Wyeth. Researchers evaluated follow-up data from the Nurse's Health Study collected from 1980 through 2008. The women in the study were 30 to 55 years old in 1976. Overall, the risk for breast cancer was 88 percent higher among women who had taken estrogen plus progesterone for 10 to 14.9 years, compared to women who did not. This risk more than doubled for women who used ... Read more

Estrogen-Only Hormone Therapy May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk for Some

Posted 9 Dec 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Dec. 9 – In a finding that seems to counter the prevailing wisdom that any form of hormone replacement therapy raises the risk of breast cancer, a new look at some old data suggests that estrogen-only hormone therapy might protect a small subset of postmenopausal women against the disease. "Exogenous estrogen [such as hormone therapy] is actually protective" in women who have a low risk for developing breast tumors, said study author Dr. Joseph Ragaz, a medical oncologist and clinical professor in the School of Population & Public Health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. With his colleagues, Ragaz took another look at data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, a national trial that has focused on ways to prevent breast and colorectal cancer, as well as heart disease and fracture risk, in postmenopausal women. The team planned to present its ... Read more

Study Shows HRT Even Riskier Than Thought

Posted 19 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Oct. 19 – Not only does prolonged use of hormone replacement therapy raise the risk of breast cancer, new research finds, but it also ups the risk for more severe forms of the disease and increases a woman's chances of dying. A study appearing in the Oct. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association is at odds with previous observational studies that had suggested a raised risk of breast cancer, but only for less aggressive and more treatable tumors. The researchers added that this is the first time an increase in mortality has been shown. The findings apply only to estrogen-plus-progestin, or combined hormone therapy, not estrogen-alone therapy. "It looks like all categories of breast cancer are increased," said study author Dr. Rowan Chlebowski. "The preponderance of observational studies had suggested that the cancers would have a more favorable outcome but ... Read more

Estrogen Therapy May Be Linked to Kidney Stones

Posted 11 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Oct. 11 – Estrogen therapy may increase the risk of kidney stones in postmenopausal women, a new study suggests. For the study, researchers examined data on postmenopausal women in the United States, gathered from two trials in the Women's Health Initiative study. One trial included 10,739 women who had had a hysterectomy, and who received either an estrogen-only treatment or placebo, and were followed for an average of 7.1 years. The other included 16,608 women without hysterectomy who received either estrogen plus progestin therapy or placebo, and who were followed for an average of 5.6 years. There were 335 cases of kidney stones reported among women in the treatment groups and 284 cases among those in the placebo groups, the investigators found. The annual kidney stone incidence rate per 10,000 women per year was 39 in the treatment groups and 34 in the placebo groups, ... Read more

No Evidence Estrogen Causes Lung Cancer Post-Hysterectomy

Posted 16 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Aug. 13 – Taking estrogen doesn't increase the risk of developing or dying from lung cancer among postmenopausal women who've had a hysterectomy, a new study has found. Previous research about the effects of combined estrogen plus progestin therapy produced conflicting results and no studies have clarified the influence of the use of estrogen alone, the authors of the new study noted. The researchers, Dr. Rowan T. Chlebowski, of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, and colleagues analyzed data from 10,739 women, aged 50 to 79, who had undergone a hysterectomy and who had been randomly selected to take estrogen or a placebo as part of the Women's Health Initiative trial. There were 34 lung cancer deaths among women in the estrogen group, compared with 33 such deaths in the placebo group, according to the report published online Aug. 13 in the Journal of the National ... Read more

Weight a Factor in Breast Cancer Risk After HRT Use

Posted 10 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Aug. 10 – Another analysis of data on hormone therapy use among U.S. women finds that the panorama of risks is even more complex than previously thought: Thinner women taking it showed a higher risk of developing breast cancer than heavier women. The California researchers also found that the longer a woman used either estrogen-alone therapy or estrogen-plus-progestin therapy, the higher the risk of disease. Similar results were seen for women who used combined therapy continuously rather than taking breaks during the month. "This gives us a clear correlation between the length of treatment and risk," said Dr. Freya Schnabel, director of breast surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "Ad hoc, people had made the assumption that, for the most part, shorter was better, but this definitely gives you some parameters on that." Given that current recommendations on ... Read more

With Hormone Therapy, Tender Breasts May Signal Cancer Risk

Posted 16 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Oct. 12 – Breast tenderness in women taking estrogen/progestin hormone replacement therapy could signal increased chances of developing breast cancer, a new study says. Women taking estrogen plus progestin who reported developing breast tenderness after starting the hormone therapy were 48 percent more likely to develop invasive breast cancer than women on hormone therapy who did not experience breast tenderness. Researchers said more study is needed before they would recommend that women who experience this symptom discontinue taking the hormones. But women who develop breast tenderness might want to reassess if the hormones are really necessary to control their menopausal symptoms. "It's too soon to tell women to quit their hormone therapy, but it is something for women to think about in balancing the risks versus the benefits," said the study's lead author, Dr. Carolyn J. ... Read more

Low-Dose HRT Patch May Lessen Stroke Risk

Posted 4 Jun 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, June 4 – Getting low-dose hormone replacement therapy through a skin patch may reduce a woman's risk for stroke, but high-dose patches could actually raise the risk, a new study suggests. Many women take hormone therapy to treat menopausal symptoms, but some studies have linked the treatment to an increased risk for stroke. For the new study, researchers reviewed a British database of medical records from 1987 and 2006, focusing on 15,710 cases in which a woman between the ages of 50 and 79 had a stroke. They compared the women with 59,958 other women. Women who used low-dose patches were at no greater risk for stroke than were women who didn't use patches, the study found, but use of high-dose patches upped the odds of stroke by 88 percent. Taking hormone therapy orally, meanwhile, increased the risk by 25 to 30 percent, compared with the risk for women who didn't take hormone ... Read more

Early On, Hormone Therapy May Raise Women's Heart Risks

Posted 18 Feb 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 18 – Hormone replacement therapy does not lower the odds of heart trouble in women who take the regimen to ease hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause, a new study reports. In fact, the researchers say, it will probably elevate the risk for heart attacks for the first two years of use. "There was no protective effect after women first started hormone therapy," said Dr. James Liu, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at MacDonald Women's Hospital in Cleveland, who was not involved with the study. "There may be some benefit later on, but it's subtle," he added. The study reported that women who started taking hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause and who had been taking it for six years might derive some heart-protective effects, but the protection did not reach statistical significance. No protection was found for women who started hormone therapy at least 10 ... Read more

Hormone Therapy May Make Lung Cancer More Likely

Posted 2 Feb 2010 by Drugs.com

SATURDAY, Sept. 19 – Taking a combination form of hormone replacement therapy, which includes both estrogen and progestin, increases a woman's risk for dying from lung cancer, a new study has found. The finding stems from an analysis of data from the Women's Health Initiative trial on 16,608 postmenopausal women, aged 50 to 79, in the United States who had been randomly assigned to take either a once-daily tablet of 0.625 milligrams conjugated equine estrogen plus 2.5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate or a placebo. After eight years, 73 women taking the hormone therapy and 40 women in the placebo group had died of lung cancer. That meant, according to the researchers, that women who took the drug were 71 percent more likely to die from the disease. The study also found that women taking the hormone therapy were 28 percent more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, although the study ... Read more

Timing, Type of HRT May Determine Breast Cancer Risk

Posted 2 Feb 2010 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 16 – The timing and type of hormone replacement therapy women take to relieve menopausal symptoms seem to determine the degree of breast cancer risk they face, a new French study suggests. Overall, starting estrogen-progestagen therapy soon after menopause appears to boost the risk of breast cancer, even when only used for short periods of time, according to the study, which was published in the Sept. 14 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Women who began the therapy in the three years after menopause and took it for two years or less had a 54 percent higher risk of breast cancer compared to those who never used the therapy, said study co-author Francoise Clavel-Chapelon, a researcher at the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France. However, they found an exception. "This 54 percent increase in risk is an average, but does not seem to apply to ... Read more

Less HRT, Fewer Cases of Possible Breast Cancer Precursor

Posted 1 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Nov. 12 – Declining use of hormone replacement therapy may be driving down rates of a condition called "atypical ductal hyperplasia," a known risk factor for breast cancer, new research suggests. This is the first time a link has been found between atypical ductal hyperplasia – abnormal cells in the breast's milk ducts – and hormone therapy, said Diana Miglioretti, senior author of a paper published in the November issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. "It sounds like another reason not to take hormones," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge. "This is part of a pattern that combined use of hormone therapy with both estrogen and progesterone does something to a woman's breast that predisposes them to atypical ductal hyperplasia, which is felt to be a precursor to certain types of malignancies," Brooks ... Read more

Drop in Breast Cancer Rates Due to Drop in HRT Use

Posted 4 Feb 2009 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4 – A new analysis shows that the drop in breast cancer cases that began in 2003 is indeed due to women stopping hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after a large, U.S. study showed surprisingly higher rates of heart problems and breast cancer among users of some kinds of HRT. Some experts have suggested such a theory explains the trend, while others have said it might be related to changes in mammography use. "If you stop hormones, the risk of breast cancer [associated with hormone use] rapidly declines," said Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, a medical oncologist at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and lead author of the analysis in the Feb. 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Based on that analysis and another recent review, the researchers also suggested that the "safe" period for combined use of progestin and estrogen to relieve ... Read more

2 Years of Hormone Use May Be 'Safe'

Posted 3 Feb 2009 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Feb. 3 – A potential two-year "safe period" for hormone replacement therapy has been identified by American Cancer Society epidemiologists, who also confirmed that using estrogen-plus-progesterone therapy increases the risk for both ductal and lobular breast cancer far more than taking estrogen alone. The finding follows a report last month from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada that women have been needlessly scared away from using hormone therapy during menopause. Researchers for the U.S. study followed 68,369 postmenopausal women who were cancer-free when the study began in 1992. They were followed through mid-2005. Along with confirming previous findings of increased breast cancer risk from combination therapy, the research team also found that the cancer risk increases substantially within three years of starting estrogen-plus-progesterone therapy. ... Read more

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Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal Symptoms, Atrophic Vaginitis, Prostate Cancer, Hypoestrogenism, Abnormal Uterine Bleeding, Atrophic Urethritis, Oophorectomy, Primary Ovarian Failure, Breast Cancer -- Palliative