Women have a greatly reduced risk of suffering heart failure or heart attack if they take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for 10 years after the menopause the Guardian reports.
New research from Denmark shows that post-menopausal women who do take the therapy run no extra risk of developing cancer, deep vein thrombosis or having a stroke which has reopened the debate about the pros and cons of HRT.
The authors of the findings, which come from the longest-running randomised intervention trial of HRT, hope to reduce anxiety about using the drugs.
Post-menopausal women who do take the therapy run no extra risk of developing cancer, deep vein thrombosis or having a stroke, according to the study, which has reopened the debate about the pros and cons of HRT.
The authors of the findings, which come from the longest-running randomised intervention trial of HRT, hope to reduce anxiety about using the drugs.
The number of women on the treatment plunged by about half after the Million Women Study said they ran twice the risk of developing breast cancer, although later research suggested the research had been flawed and its conclusions “unreliable”.
Researchers studied 1,006 recently menopausal women aged between 45 and 58. Their paper, published on the British Medical Journal’s website, concluded: “Our findings suggest that initiation of hormone replacement therapy in women early after menopause significantly reduces the risk of the combined endpoint of mortality, myocardial infarction or heart failure.”
Meanwhile according to the BBC, campaigners and ministers are hoping a government-hosted summit on dementia research today will help boost industry’s waning interest in the condition.
It comes amid fears the push to find better treatments is petering out. Last month Alzheimer’s Research UK said drugs companies may “retreat” from dementia research without more support.
The warning followed disappointing results in recent clinical trials. It is estimated that more than 800,000 people in the UK have dementia, but numbers affected are growing fast and the search for new treatments is becoming more urgent.
And the Daily Telegraph says an advertisement promising an £86 torch device could detect the early signs of breast cancer has been banned following a complaint it was misleading and irresponsible.
A GP who saw the ad complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, questioning whether the ‘earlier detection’ claim was accurate and saying that the ‘enlightens breast awareness’ line was misleading.
