Originally posted at EmpowHer
A new study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows women taking postmenopausal hormone therapy have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.
The research, conducted by a team led by Lina Steinrud Mørch, M.Sc., of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University, Denmark, also shows that the risk remains higher up to two years after these women stop hormone therapy.
The study looked at over 900,000 Danish women who were 50 or older in 1995: the women not using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were followed for 10 years and compared to the women who had various types of HRT.
Hormone therapy accounted for five percent of ovarian cancer cases among the women studied. Overall, current HRT users were 38 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer than the women who had never used HRT. Even women who had stopped taking hormones in the previous two years were at a 22 percent higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. These findings suggest that the length of time of the therapy, the kinds and combination of hormones and the form of delivery did not correlate in any particular way to risk percentage.
The percentages may seem low, as the study measures risk levels and likelihood of developing ovarian cancer as a result of HRT, but the results are worth considering. Ovarian cancer is a fatal cancer and is usually only detected after the cancer has spread through the ovaries; the percentage of risk linking HRT to the disease makes the use of hormone therapy questionable.
Still, CNN reports that when asked about whether or not the study will change women’s interest or doctor’s recommendations of HRT, Debbie Saslow, Ph.D., the director of breast and gynecologic cancer at the American Cancer Society noted,”The bottom line is, we’re already telling women, ‘Don’t use it.’ If you need to use it, use it for the lowest dose and the shortest amount of time, but try not to use it.”
The studies are important and findings must be circulated in order for women to get a better perspective on the risks and possible outcomes of hormone replacement therapy. It’s easy to think about HRT in the framework often displayed in magazines and television shows. Oprah recently devoted a show to discussing HRT, interviewing Robin McGraw, whose experience with HRT did not focus on research but rather seemed to be a miracle cure for feeling tired and lifeless.
Oprah went on to interview Dr. Christiane Northrup, who encouraged women to figure out what works best for one’s own body and that it’s important to speak with your doctor. Still, the show did not specifically address the statistics linking cancer and heart attacks to HRT. Indeed, it’s important for women to do the research and speak to medical professionals about the realities of taking on HRT.
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What type (or types) of estrogen did they use? I don't have access to the study, and none of the articles I've looked at seem to say.
Rhoanna,
According to the study, risk did not differ between the different hormone therapies - both estrogen and estrogen-progestin therapies showed an increased risk.
Here's an article that details more of the specific detailed findings of the risk:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/GeneralOBGYN/15083
Hope that helps!
Thanks! It sounds like they used estradiol (which'd fit with the methods of delivery), but I might be reading it wrong since there's also a lot of discussion about conjugated equine estrogens in the end of the article.
Yep, treating normal processes in women's lives (childbirth, menopause, menstruation) as medical conditions that need to be treated with medication is not only misogynistic, but also dangerous to women's health.
Yep stellarose, because every woman has the same experience with pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and menstruation. Medication definately misogynistic. Bet the women of the Congo think that!
The symptoms of the menopause can be absolutely dreadful and so can those of menstruation, which can lead women to lead lives completely out of the public space for many many years. There is always 'new research' out about how HRT is dangerous and evil. Well, I think HRT is absolutely essential for a lot of women to continue living the life they deserve.
I have no quip with the use of medicine for "absolutely dreadful", plain annoying or dangerous situations, and in no way was I suggesting that impoverished people be denied access to health care. I do love how whenever someone has a legitimate bone to pick with medical culture, the assumption is that they are advocating some sort of back to the land mentality, instead of advocating the use technology appropriately. Very different points.
My only problem is with the prescription of medical means routinely in a way that pathologizes what for many (not all, but many) people are normal processes - this is something that does seem to tend to happen a lot more with women's bodies, as Emily Martin and others have astutely pointed out. This feeds into larger cultural trends of women being taught to loathe and fear their bodies.
From what I hear from many women of my mom's generation (i.e., the Forever Feminine era) HRT was certainly sold to many women of a certain age as a way to stop the scary and horrible loss of their femininity and decline into crone-dom that they were inevitibly facing. While some women do experience terrible menopause symptoms, certainly we shouldn't foster a cultural norm that women, after their reproductive years, are broken and sick and need to be fixed by doctors. That was my only point here.
Thanks for your reply, it certainly is different than your earlier comment.