According to the Ohio-based North American Menopause Society, the advantages of short-term hormone replacement therapy likely outweigh the risks for younger women.
A new position statement on hormone therapy, to be published in its journal, Menopause, has been issued by the society. The society said the risks and benefits of hormone therapy change as a woman grows older.
In an example cited in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, women who had passed 20 years of menopause, who took hormones had a 71 percent higher risk of a heart attack, while women closer to menopause had an 11 percent lower risk, the Wall Street Journal said.
As per the newspaper, hormones are still only suggested for short-term treatment of menopausal symptoms.
Nearly five years ago, the Women’s Health Initiative study was stopped early because older participants suffered a high rate of heart attacks.
Speaking about the revelation, Harvard researcher JoAnn Manson, who worked on both that study and the new guidelines, told the Wall Street Journal, “I think these guidelines help to put the recent evidence and the new studies into perspective for women. I think the statement is likely to be reassuring to them that with short-term use the benefits of hormones are likely to outweigh the risks.”