HRT After Menopause Reduces Symptoms

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Thursday, August 21, 2008; 7:19 PM

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THURSDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Hormone replacement therapy, even when it's started many years after menopause, can reduce some of the quality-of-life problems caused by menopause, such as sleep problems and hot flashes.

Australian researchers report that women who started hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause and took it for an average of one year had significant improvements in sexual functioning, and fewer sleep problems, hot flashes and sweating than did women taking a placebo.

"The greatest benefits and least risk from HRT are seen in the 99 percent of women who commence HRT for symptom relief near menopause. [This] trial studied much older women who started HRT on average 13 to 14 years after menopause when they had fewer symptoms. Even in this group, improved quality of life was seen in many [taking HRT]," said study author Dr. Alastair MacLennan, head of obstetrics and gynecology at the Women's and Children's Hospital at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Results of the study were published in the Aug. 22 issue of the British Medical Journal.

Hormone replacement therapy has been under major scrutiny since the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study was stopped in 2002 because of increases in blood clots, heart disease, stroke and breast cancer risk in women initiating HRT long after menopause. MacLennan's study (dubbed the WISDOM study), which began in 1999 and was originally intended to follow women for up to 10 years on HRT, was also stopped after the WHI findings were released due to concerns that the risks of HRT might outweigh the benefits.

Even though the trial was stopped early, MacLennan and his colleagues had one-year follow-up data for 2,130 women between the ages of 50 and 69. The average age in this study was 63.8.

The women had been randomly assigned to receive either a combination hormone replacement therapy or a placebo. At the time of follow-up, 1,043 were on HRT and 1,087 were on placebo.

Women taking HRT had improvements in many quality-of-life symptoms. For example, hot flashes occurred in 30 percent of the women in the HRT group before starting the hormones, but in just 14 percent at the one year follow-up. In comparison, 29 percent of women taking placebo had hot flashes at the start of the study, while 25 percent were still experiencing them at the follow-up. Improvements were also seen in night sweats, insomnia and vaginal dryness.