- =FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - Think twice about
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) drugs, say the authors of an upcoming
book on the treatment taken by millions of women to relieve symptoms of
the menopause.
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- "Far more research needs to be done about these
drugs," said British investigative journalist Jackie Williams, co-author
of "The Estrogen Myth Exposed," which is set to stir interest
among publishers at this year's Frankfurt book fair.
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- Women who use HRT to relieve hot flashes and mood swings
or to prevent osteoporosis were caught off guard in July after a U.S. trial
showed HRT raises the risk of stroke, breast cancer and blood clots. Shares
in HRT manufacturers like the U.S-based Wyeth and Germany's Schering tumbled.
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- Then last month a British study backed the U.S. 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 were overall
less likely to suffer from bowel cancer or hip fractures.
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- In an interview with Reuters, Williams said she and co-author
Helen Woollin had been working for women's voluntary health organizations
for some years and realized there was a huge gap in knowledge about HRT
drugs.
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- "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.
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- She called on the medical profession to be much more
aware of any possible side effects.
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- "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," she said.
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- "I think doctors should be far more informed about
the nutritional aspects of health," she added. "These latest
trials and studies have confirmed what has been evident to a lot of people
for a long time."
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- In the U.S. 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 percent, heart attack by 29 percent
and breast cancer by 26 percent.
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- The book's British publishers say they are firmly convinced
its timing is topical.
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- "We have received very strong international interest,"
said Fiona Langdon, International Sales Director of Virgin Books.
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- Williams said that women around the world should be much
more questioning about how they treat their bodies.
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- "Up till now, medical opinion currently assumed
that estrogen 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 estrogen and other
synthetic hormones, doctors may increase the risk of disease."
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- Calling for more money to be spent on research into the
side effects of HRT, she concluded: "I think drugs should not be the
first resort for women's symptoms of menopause."
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