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October 2, 2003
"Ovarian risk amongst combined Hormone
Replacement Therapy users"
Women taking estrogen plus progestin were diagnosed as having
invasive ovarian cancer at a rate of 42 per 100,000 person-years
in comparison to the 15 per 100,000 person-years in the placebo
group. The Hormone Replacement Therapy study analyzed trial data
collected for the Women’s Health Initiative trial involving
16,608 postmenopausal women who had not had a hysterectomy at
enrolment and were using a certain combination of Hormone Replacement
Therapy drugs. Study authors concluded, “The possibility
of an increased risk of ovarian cancer incidence and mortality
remains worrisome.”
September 26, 2003
"Consumer group writes letter to FDA regarding
Hormone Replacement Therapy safety concerns"
Public Citizen consumer group sent a letter to the FDA Commissioner
because it felt there is incomplete, thus inaccurate information
given to women on Hormone Replacement Therapy. The FDA had announced
September 9, 2003 of the “Collaborative Campaign to Inform
Women About Menopausal Hormone Therapy”, but according to
the consumer group, a disservice was provided. The information
failed to prominently display the black box warning, the strongest
FDA issued warning of the links made between cancer and Premarin.
The letter went on to point out the contraindications to the
use of Hormone Replacement Therapy is not displayed prominently
and are instead displayed in a sidebar underneath a list of hormone
benefits. There was also no mention of symptoms of Hormone Replacement
Therapy illnesses or what to do if an illness occurs. The failure
also to mention what alternatives to use in place of Hormone Replacement
Therapy if using it simply to prevent osteoporosis has been left
out.
The gaps of information in the website should not have been approved
by the FDA simply based on the fact that omitting information
mandated by the FDA by law. The consumer group urged the FDA to
correct the information provided as soon as possible by replacing
the Collaborative Campaign information with patient information
based on the current FDA approved patient information for Premarin.
For more information on Hormone Replacement Therapy contact
us to confer with a lawyer.
September 4, 2003
"Hormone Replacement Therapy News Could End Up Being Positive"
Women for decades have believed taking Hormone Replacement Therapy
was the way to maintain youth and to promote health, but recent
research has been showing the opposite. Instead, Hormone Replacement
Therapy has been linked to higher risks of heart disease, breast
cancer, ovarian cancer, and dementia. Since the WHI published
the results of the Hormone Replacement Therapy in July 2002, the
number of women using the drug has significantly decreased.
There were 3.4 million women using Prempro and by June 2003 just
1.2 million were still using it. Although the study had focused
only on Prempro, the estrogen-progestin combination drug, the
number of Premarin estrogen-only pill declined from 6.4 million
to 4.5 million by July 2002. The results of the Premarin study
will not be available until 2005.
Although the Hormone Replacement Therapy news had a potentially
large impact considering millions of women using the drug therapy,
some experts are seeing these findings in a different light. Now,
more focus can be placed on menopause as a whole and promoting
healthy lifestyles for women of all ages. For more information
on Hormone Replacement Therapy contact
us to confer with a lawyer.
September 2003
"Hormone Replacement Therapy stance confusing
to many women"
Ever since a July 2002 study indicated Hormone Replacement Therapy
might be doing more harm than good, women have been confused about
what to do ever since. The study was intended to be an eight-year
process, as researchers enrolled 16,608 postmenopausal women at
an average age of 63 to take Prempro or a placebo.
After just five years, researchers halted the study when a significant
heart problem increase was seen to occur amongst the Prempro users.
Women appear to have the largest risk of coronary artery problems
during the first year of using Prempro, especially women with
higher levels of low-density lipoprotein. For more information
on Hormone Replacement Therapy contact
us to confer with a lawyer.
May 2003
"Women Taking Hormone Replacement
Therapy at Twice the Risk of Dementia"
New study raises even more fears over
hormone replacement therapy effects - Women had been prescribed
hormone replacement therapy, an estrogen-progesterone combination
by their doctors for years to help memory and mental ability in
older women. Doctors had been encouraging women that had not undergone
a hysterectomy to begin hormone replacement therapy when reaching
menopause, so it was not surprising that in the U.S. alone there
were 15 million women using the estrogen-progestin combination.
Then a 2002 study was released showing that millions of women
were instead at an increased risk of breast cancer, heart attacks,
and strokes. This popular combination was first introduced forty
years ago and had become such a regular part of entering menopause
for women that many people were left wondering how the findings
were not released earlier. At the time it was the first, and only,
large trial comparing hormone replacement therapy effects with
placebos in healthy women.
Now, a new study has been released, appearing in the May 28,
2003 Journal of the American Medical Association showing women
who take the hormone replacement therapy are also at a higher
risk of Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia. The hormone
replacement therapy study included 4,532 women ages 65 and older
that were randomly assigned to take Wyeth Pharmaceutical‘s
hormone replacement therapy drug called Prempro or was given a
placebo for more than four years.
A 15-minute test of memory, judgment, concentration, and ability
to follow simple directions and copy a simple design were given
periodically. What the study found was probable dementia diagnosed
in 61 women, most of which were considered to be Alzheimer’s
disease. Forty of these instances were in women given the Prempro,
opposed to just 21 of the placebo-taking women.
It is still unclear what the study’s findings mean for
younger women using hormone replacement therapy, as well as for
a shorter duration. Women were not alone in the shock that the
new study has caused, experts and professionals alike found the
hormone replacement therapy study to result in feelings of disbelief.
Long believed to provide benefits quite opposite of the recent
findings, many experts now believe the use of any hormones at
all is too great of a risk.
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