BMJ 1995;311:1505 (2 December)

Letters

Article increased uncertainty

EDITOR,--Klim McPherson's editorial on breast cancer and hormonal supplements in postmenopausal women is important both for patients taking hormone replacement therapy and for general practitioners prescribing it.1 But what are we supposed to do now? McPherson presents the statistics as irrefutable facts. Are they? Should we ask our patients whether they want to die of breast cancer or ischaemic heart disease? What is the actual decrease in the risk of ischaemic heart disease in women taking hormone replacement therapy? Should a family history of breast cancer become a contraindication to hormone replacement therapy? Do we now have to get consent forms signed before patients start taking hormone replacement therapy?

Perhaps McPherson should have written a review art

icle rather than aneditorial, so that he could proffer the full implications and necessary advice to practising doctors. As a profession we should be grateful that the media had other things to concentrate . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Breast cancer and hormonal supplements in postmenopausal women
Klim McPherson
BMJ 1995 311: 699-700. [Extract] [Full Text]

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