(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be putting
women at increased risk for stroke, despite the type of hormones they receive or
when they begin taking them.
Those conclusions come from researchers who studied women taking part in the
Nurses’ Health Study, which has been gauging health concerns among women since
1976. The women in this study were followed from the beginning of the trial
until 2004.
Investigators found women currently taking hormones -- either estrogen alone or
estrogen plus progestin -- had a higher risk for stroke. Overall, women taking
estrogen alone were 39 percent more likely to have a stroke. Women in the
estrogen/progestin group were 27 percent more likely to have a stroke. Larger
doses appeared to raise the risk more than smaller doses.
The risk also held true regardless of when women began taking HRT, although the
researchers note few strokes actually occurred in women who started taking HRT
at younger ages and those who had been on the therapy for less than five years.
“In summary, our findings in the Nurses’ Health Study indicate that hormone
therapy is associated with an increased risk of stroke, regardless of the
hormone regime or the timing of hormone therapy initiation,” the authors were
quoted as saying. “However, in younger women, who are at lower absolute risk of
stroke, the attributable risk of stroke owing to hormone use is modest, and our
data suggest that risk might be further minimized by lower doses and shorter
duration of treatment.”
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:861-866
