Real perils in HRT use, warn authors

Think twice about Hormone Replacement Therapy drugs, say the authors of a book on the treatment taken by millions of women to relieve symptoms of the menopause.

"Far more research needs to be done about these drugs," said British investigative journalist Jackie Williams, co-author of The Oestrogen Myth Exposed, published by Virgin Books, which is set to stir interest among publishers at this year's Frankfurt book fair.

Women who use Hormone Replacement Therapy to relieve hot flushes and mood swings or to prevent osteoporosis were caught off guard in July after an American trial showed HRT raises the risk of stroke, breast cancer and blood clots.

Last month, a British study backed the US findings, concluding that women who took the treatment for five years had a higher risk of breast cancer, stroke and blood clots in the lung but overall were less likely to suffer from bowel cancer or hip fractures.

Williams said she and co-author Helen Woollin had been working for women's voluntary health organisations for some years and realised there was a big gap in knowledge about HRT drugs - oestrogen and other synthetic hormones.

"We have been looking into 40 years of research into women's menopausal problems and we have a stark message for them: 'Be careful taking any synthetic hormones as you may be causing the very diseases you are trying to prevent'," she said.

"We have been contacted by many hundreds of women who have incurred health problems due to these drugs. Their doctors have not been able to help them."

Doctors should be far more informed about the nutritional aspects of health, Williams said.

"These latest trials and studies have confirmed what has been evident to a lot of people for a long time."

In the US study of 16,600 women, HRT was shown to lower the risk of osteoporosis, or brittle bone disease, and colon cancer. But it raised the number of strokes by 41 per cent, heart attacks by 29 per cent and breast cancer by 26 per cent.

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The book's British publishers are firmly convinced its timing is topical. "We have received very strong international interest..," said Fiona Langdon, International Sales Director of Virgin Books.

Williams firmly believed that women around the world should be much more pro-active and questioning about how they treat their bodies.

"Up until now, medical opinion currently assumed that oestrogen production ceased at menopause and that all women need this treatment to remain healthy. This is often far from the truth," she said.

"By prescribing more and more oestrogen and other synthetic hormones, doctors may increase the risk of disease."

Calling for more money to be spent on research into the side effects of HRT, Williams concluded: "I think drugs should not be the first resort for women's symptoms of menopause."

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