Menopause hormone replacement therapy may not cut risk

• In a new study, researchers say they can no longer support using hormone replacement therapy as a preventive measure for cardiovascular disease. However, they say it can help reduce vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes.
• They also said they can no longer support calcium and vitamin D supplementation, sometimes used to prevent fractures, as a preventive therapy.
• The researchers did say that low-fat diets done over a long term might help reduce the risk of breast cancer mortality.

Hormone replacement therapy to prevent cardiovascular disease, a low-fat diet to prevent breast cancer or colorectal cancer, and calcium with vitamin D supplementation for fractures in postmenopausal women have been used as preventive treatments.

However, in a new study from the Women’s Health Initiative published in the journal JAMA, researchers looked at these treatments and concluded they can no longer support these therapies as preventive measures for certain diseases.

Clinical trials from the Women’s Health Initiative examined the health effects of several treatments for postmenopausal women:

• Hormone (estrogen) therapy to prevent cardiovascular and other chronic diseases
• Calcium and vitamin D supplements to reduce fractures
• A low-fat diet with increased fruits, vegetables, and grains to prevent breast or colorectal cancer

The studies included 161,808 women ages 50 to 79, with up to 20 years follow-up periods. The researchers noted that 55 million women in the United States and 1.1 billion worldwide are postmenopausal, and many have used at least one of these therapies to help improve their health.