Published 3 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1494
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1494

Letters

Hormone replacement therapy

Irresponsible to modify current guidelines

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In the WISDOM hormone replacement therapy (HRT) trial, overall health related quality of life measures were reduced at four and 14 weeks of HRT use rather than increased (see table 4).¹ Data were unavailable for 44% of women taking HRT and 41.5% of women taking placebo when the trial was terminated at a year, but six of those who took HRT died compared with two who took placebo. Twice as many HRT users had stopped by 40 weeks, mostly because of large increases in endometrial bleeding (hazard ratio 13.4) and breast tenderness. The authors had already reported about a sevenfold increase in major cardiovascular and venous thromboembolic events.² Even so, they now want the current HRT guidelines revisited.¹

In the light of these results, it would be irresponsible to think that any use of HRT is justifiable. How can minor improvements in a few symptoms such as flushing compare with . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Kingston upon Thames KT2 7JU

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