Older Hearts at Increased Risk from HRT

A major research study covering women from the UK, Australia and New Zealand has found that hormone replacement therapy could be harmful for the hearts of older women. Published in the British Medical Journal, the study further confirms the findings of earlier studies that have found HRT to be risky for women in their sixties.

Christened WISDOM (Women’s International Study of Long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause), the study involved doctors at the Medical Research Council in the UK, the University of Adelaide in Australia and the Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in New Zealand. Covering more than 5,000 women over 60, the study began in 1999 and lasted till 2002.

It followed a similar pattern as the US Women’s Health Institute (WHI) study, which was also targeted at studying HRT in older women. The WISDOM study identified 5,692 healthy women with an average age of 63, all of whom were registered at GP practices.

They were split into two groups, with one group receiving a combination of oestrogen and progestogen HRT pills while the other received “dummy” placebo pills. Just like the WHI study, WISDOM researchers also found that HRT increased the danger to health of women on HRT.

They found that there was significant increase in the number of major cardiovascular events such as angina, heart attack or even sudden heart death in the group on HRT. Even the formation of potentially dangerous blood clots was found to remarkably higher in the women given HRT as compared to those on placebo.

Dr. Madge Vickers, former head of the MRC General Practice Research Framework, who led the study said, “Importantly, the WISDOM study showed that there is no overall disease prevention benefit from HRT and some potential risk for women who start hormone replacement therapy many years after menopause.”

“However, most women take HRT for relief of menopausal symptoms, and quality of life is an important part of the equation,” she added. The combined findings of the two studies have led to a major decline in the prescription of HRT to older women in the UK.

However experts continue to advise HRT for younger women as it is comparatively safer and effective for them. It helps alleviate some of the unpleasant symptoms of menopause such as hot flushes and night sweats.

Professor John Stevenson, a consultant metabolic physician from the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, and Chairman of the charity Women’s Health Concern, stressed that, for younger women, HRT was a safe treatment.

He said, “This is a highly effective way of helping women with menopausal symptoms, and it is almost unheard of for much older women to be starting a course of HRT. Women in their 50s might be given HRT for a year or two, then weaned off to see if their symptoms have eased.”

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