A new study has found that hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, used to alleviate the symptoms of the menopause, may be linked to an increased risk of heart disease and blood clots
After over a decade of research, experts have unveiled a concerning truth for individuals taking certain hormone medications. A recent study published in the medical journal BMJ has exposed the potentially devastating side effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), commonly used to assist women dealing with menopause.
The study, which involved nearly a million menopausal women from 2007 to 2020, aimed to investigate whether the combination of specific hormones was endangering their hearts. Regrettably, the scientists behind the Swedish study have now confirmed their suspicions.
However, they found that the exact impact HRT has on a patient’s cardiovascular risk depends on the precise type of hormone they were prescribed. Oral oestrogen-progestin therapy was linked with an increased risk of heart disease and venous thromboembolism, a condition where blood clots form in veins.
Conversely, tibolone medications were associated with a heightened risk of ischaemic heart disease, also known as coronary heart disease, cerebral infarction which obstructs blood flow to the brain, and myocardial infarction which hinders blood flow to the heart muscle, but not venous thromboembolism.
Revolutionary research involving over 900,000 Swedish women uncovered the heightened risks. Of the vast group being meticulously tracked through prescription records, hospital admissions and national registries, a staggering 24,089 experienced an event during follow-up, with nearly half linked to ischaemic heart disease.
Intriguingly, the study identified that transdermal treatments like patches, gels and creams didn’t have a link to cardiovascular disease risk, though they still carry a blood clot risk. The team from Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of New South Wales in Sydney was quick to clarify these are observational results, subject to limitations, urging more research into menopause therapies, particularly those involving the progestogen hormone.
Celebrating their diverse study sample which curbed the typical bias found in menopause research, they stated: “These findings highlight the diverse effects of different hormone combinations and administration methods on the risk of cardiovascular disease.”
