Study: Hormone Therapy's Effects Are Not Lasting

By Erik Ricasa

Published on July 24, 2005

Results of a new study show that women taking hormone therapy pills such as Prempro may experience a renewal of menopausal symptoms, as well as increased risk of heart attacks and breast cancer.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, followed women for five years and scrutinized the ability of hormone therapy to combat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. As expected, women taking hormones experienced much less discomfort related to menopause than those women taking placebo pills. However, when the study concluded, more than half of those taking hormones underwent a resurgence of the uncomfortable symptoms.

These results suggest that hormone therapy, rather than making menopause symptom-free, instead simply delays the hot flashes until the therapy is halted, calling into question the efficacy of the long-standing practice.

In addition to these latest results, researchers have also shown that pills containing a combination of estrogen and progestin, such as Prempro, have an increased risk of causing heart attacks, breast cancer, strokes, and Alzheimer's disease. Experts recommend that to reduce these risks, women should only take combination hormone therapy for severe menopause symptoms, for as short a duration as possible.

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