No Benefit of HRT for Heart
Reported December 28, 2004
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — There are a number of studies on how hormone replacement therapy may or may not benefit a woman’s heart. A new study shows HRT has no impact on the endothelial function in postmenopausal women. Endothelial function is an early indicator of atherosclerosis.
Cardiovascular disease and coronary atherosclerosis are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal women. Some studies have suggested HRT could be cardio-protective for women. However, more recent large studies do not support this finding. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., conducted a study to determine if HRT plays a role in the early signs of atherosclerosis or coronary endothelial function.
The study included 270 women who underwent an extensive coronary assessment. Researchers looked at the blood flow in the heart of each participant. They found the blood flow was lower in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women. Study authors report no differences in the coronary blood flow among women who took HRT and those who did not.
Researchers conclude there is a decline in coronary endothelial function in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women. Also, HRT does not appear to have an impact on coronary endothelial function. They add the lack of evidence of a cardioprotective effect in this study may serve as another point for the overall lack of cardiac benefit seen with HRT.
SOURCE: Mayo Clinical Proceedings, 2004;79:1514-1520