HRT Improves Quality of Life
Reported August 27, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — For post-menopausal women — even those without symptoms — hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may improve quality of life.
The study — one of the worlds largest and longest — involved 2,130 post-menopausal women in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. On average, study participants were 13 years past menopause and most experienced no menopausal symptoms.
Our results show that hot flushes, night sweats, sleeplessness and joint pains were less common in women on HRT in this age group, Alastair MacLennan, M.D., head of the Australian division of Womens International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause (WISDOM) and the Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of Adelaide, Australia, was quoted as saying. Sexuality also improved, she added.
Even women who were past menopause and didnt have hot flashes showed improvement in their quality of life, including in sleep, sexuality and joint pain. Researchers found, however, that breast tenderness and discharge were more common for women receiving HRT.
Researchers say these findings should be considered when deciding whether a woman would benefit from HRT. The quality of life benefits of HRT may be greater in women with more severe symptoms near menopause, Dr. Beverley Lawton, head of WISDOM New Zealand, was quoted as saying. She points out new research shows if HRT is started close to when menopause begins, a woman can avoid the cardiovascular risks linked to starting HRT many years after menopause.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal, 2008;337:a1190
