SCIENTISTS have made a breakthrough in hormone replacement therapy which will allow thousands of women to take low doses of HRT without any fear of side effects.
Patients will now be able to take the therapy to treat symptoms such as hot flushes and thinning bones without worrying about the consequences.
Specialists believe it could halt the decline in women turning their backs on HRT following controversial research that raised fears that the treatment can cause heart disease, blood clots and cancer.
The new low-dose pill, Premarin, contains 0.3mg of oestrogen, less than half the standard HRT preparation.
Medical experts believe it can be used to stop hot flushes and thinning bones in women under 50 who have undergone a hysterectomy.
Premarin meets new guidelines to minimise the risk of HRT side effects.
Dr John Stevenson, consultant metabolic physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and chairman of the charity Women's Health Concern, said: "The new tablet is significant because it is giving us another option in treating HRT which we have never had before.
"The other benefit of this tablet is that when you start someone on HRT medication of 0.625mg there is a risk - for the first six months - of blood clots in the lower legs.
"By starting someone on the 0.3mg dose the risk is lowered and it means that if the patient's symptoms don't ease we can increase the dose, taking away that risk."
Stevenson said it should reassure millions of women who have been unnecessarily deterred from taking HRT drugs.
The number of prescriptions has fallen by almost half in six years, down by almost three million from the high of 6.3 million in 2001, with the number of users falling from two million to one million.
Safety concerns arose in 2002 when a US study claimed patients using HRT were at higher risk of heart disease and strokes.
But earlier this year, re-analysis of the data found the extra risks may apply only to patients in their 60s and 70s, who do not normally use HRT.
source : scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment