The landmark government research studied 24,000 postmenopausal women taking either HRT or placebo, and found that women on HRT were 21 percent more likely to develop kidney stones over a five-year period. The risks were equal among women taking Prempro, pills containing estrogen plus progestin, and Premarin, estrogen-only pills. Comparatively, studies show that overall about 6 percent of postmenopausal women develop kidney stones.

It is yet more bad news for women who for years had been fooled by false advertising from pharmaceutical companies that promised the pills not only relieved annoying symptoms of menopause, including hot flashes and mood swings, but also protected them against cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis. However, a major study into the mortality and morbidity of postmenopausal women was abruptly halted in 2002 when data indicated that women who used HRT were at substantially greater risk of developing breast cancer.

As the data was more closely studied, evidence surfaced that HRT also didn’t protect women against heart disease, and in fact, put them at greater risk or heart attacks and strokes. It was also found to increase a women’s risk for dementia and increase the death rate among women with lung cancer.

Kidney stones are hard crystals of calcium or other substances that separate from liquid in urine. The stones usually pass without treatment, but even the smallest stones can cause excruciating pain until they break up or exit the body. Stones too large to pass are often treated with noninvasive shock wave therapy or surgery.

Researchers say are uncertain why HRT increases a woman’s risk though one explanation may be that the pills can cause an increase in uric acid which may contribute to the formation of kidney stones.

SOURCE: Hormone Replacement Therapy › New study finds HRT increases women’s risk for kidney stones

The level of risk seemed to increase with the duration of therapy. Women who took combined therapy for 10 years or more were at the greatest risk for lung cancer. The study also indicated that the risk was limited to the combined therapy as opposed to the estrogen-only HRT. Smoking also didn’t affect the influence of HRT on lung cancer risk.

“Although HRT use has declined and is not recommended except for short-term treatment of menopausal symptoms, our results indicate millions of women remain at risk of developing lung cancer,” Christopher G. Slatore, MD, of Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, and colleagues wrote.

The study involved data from a prospective cohort of 36,588 peri- and postmenopausal women ages 50 to 76 who had participated in the Vitamins and Lifestyles (VITAL) study that examined associations between use of supplements and cancer risk. Two-thirds of the study’s participants either took or had taken HRT. A similar number had a family history of lung cancer, and another two-thirds smoked.

During the six years of follow-up in the study, 344 women, including some from both the HRT and the non-HRT group, developed lung cancer. The study showed that women who took combined HRT for nine years or less had a 1.27 risk for lung caner, something not considered statistically significant. However, women who took the combined therapy for 10 years or longer had a 1.48 hazard ratio for lung cancer, considered a much more notable increase.

“These findings may be helpful for informing women of their risk of developing lung cancer and delineating important pathways involved in hormone metabolism and lung cancer,” the authors wrote in conclusion.

Source: MedPage Today

SOURCE: Hormone Replacement Therapy › Study: HRT puts women at greater risk for lung cancer

The news is just another blow to Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin that was widely prescribed to women as a treatment for menopausal symptoms. Prempro and other HRTs were once thought to improve a woman’s health as she entered postmenopausal years; however, results from a Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) shook that belief when the findings of that study revealed women on HRT were at an increased risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Since 2002, when the findings were released, sales of HRT medications like Prempro have plummeted and lawsuits against companies like Wyeth have escalated.

According to the new trial, which reviewed women from WHI age 50 to 79, after five years on Prempro 67 women died from non-small cell lung cancer compared with 39 on a placebo. The study group included both current and former smokers.

“This is a new finding that tells us women who smoke shouldn’t take estrogen and progestin for menopause symptoms,” said Rowan Chlebowski, the study author and a researcher at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

According to the study, among the women classified as current or former smokers, there were 56 deaths among women taking hormones and 34 deaths among women on a placebo. Among the women classified as nonsmokers, there were 9 deaths for women on HRT and 5 deaths for those taking a placebo.

Source: Bloomberg.com

SOURCE: Hormone Replacement Therapy › Prempro increases risk of dying from small cell lung cancer

Most doctors prescribed HRT for women experiencing bothersome symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and night sweats, mood swings and decreased sexual desire. Just a few years ago it was believed that long-term use of HRT was safe and offered other benefits, such as protecting against osteoporosis and heart disease.

However, preliminary results of the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) showed that the complications of HRT far outweighed the benefits. WHI researchers found that women on hormones were at an even higher risk for serious diseases and conditions such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke and blood clots.

The new study is the first follow up to the landmark WHI. The analysis focused on women’s health three years after stopping HRT. Researchers have found that women who stopped HRT still had an increased risk of cancer – especially breast and lung cancers. The report also found a decreased risk of heart disease.

During the second and third years after the end of WHI, researchers noticed that women who took hormones but stopped were 24 percent more likely to develop cancer than women who had taken placebos during WHI.

Researchers say the analysis results show that women who have stopped taking hormones need to be vigilant about getting cancer screenings and mammograms.

SOURCE: Hormone Replacement Therapy › Cancer risk still elevated even years after stopping HRT