- CHICAGO (Reuters) - Studies
showing that hormone replacement therapy raises the risk of heart disease,
cancer and blood clots have knocked U.S. prescriptions for the drugs back
to where they were nine years ago, a report said on Tuesday.
-
- The finding shows that doctors "may rapidly abandon
well-established therapies when studies demonstrate harm" and that
"patients also played a major role" in the reversal, said the
report from the Stanford University School of Medicine.
-
- The study said the number of hormone therapy prescriptions
rose to 90 million in 1999 from 58 million in 1995 and remained stable
through June 2002.
-
- Estrogen/progestin combinations, primarily Wyeth's Prempro,
accounted for most of the growth, the study said.
-
- Studies released starting in July 2002 triggered an avalanche
of bad news about the therapy, and a sharp drop in prescriptions followed.
-
- If prescription rates seen through July 2003 continue,
the report said, there were probably 57 million written last year, close
to the rate in 1995.
-
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that
post-menopausal women preferring hormone therapy for hot flashes or vaginal
dryness take the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible time.
-
- The study was published in this week's Journal of the
American Medical Association.
- © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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