Home > British Medical Journal, cardiovascular disease, prescription drugs, reproductive health > HRT taken for 10 years significantly reduces risk of heart failure and heart attack

HRT taken for 10 years significantly reduces risk of heart failure and heart attack

October 10, 2012

HRT taken for 10 years significantly reduces risk of heart failure and heart attack

Source: British Medical Journal

Women who take HRT for 10 years following menopause have a significantly reduced risk of mortality, heart failure and heart attack without any increased risk of cancer, DVT or stroke, a study published today on bmj.com suggests.

HRT therapy has been subject to much discussion due to both positive effects (reduced risk of cardiovascular disease) and negative effects (increased risk of breast cancer). A paper published in the BMJ Group’s Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare back in January cast doubt on the “unreliable” Million Women Study which associated HRT with an increased risk of breast cancer.

Conflicting results have led clinicians to believe that time since menopause until HRT is initiated can account for differences in cardiovascular outcome. So authors from Denmark carried out a randomised trial over 10 years with additional six years of follow-up to establish whether HRT can reduce cardiovascular risk if it is started early after menopause.

1006 women (504 in HRT group and 502 in non-HRT group) were included in the study and all were white, healthy, recently menopausal and aged 45-58 years old. Women who’d had a hysterectomy were only included if they were aged 45-52. Exclusion criteria were if they had a history of bone disease, uncontrolled chronic disease, previous or current cancer, current or previous use of HRT within the past three months and alcohol or drug addiction. All data on diagnoses or death were taken from the Danish Civil Registration System and National Hospital Discharge Register. The primary end-point was a combination of death and hospitalisation for a heart attack or heart failure.

After 10 years of randomised treatment the women were encouraged to discontinue the use of HRT due to the results from the Women’s Health Initiative and the Million Women Study. During this period, 26 women in the non-HRT group died and 33 died or experienced a cardiovascular end-point, compared to 15 deaths and 16 deaths or cardiovascular end-points in the HRT group.

Full Paper (open access)

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Categories: British Medical Journal, cardiovascular disease, prescription drugs, reproductive health
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