Now experts say HRT IMPROVES quality of life despite the health risks

Women gain significant benefits in quality of life from taking HRT even years after the menopause, say researchers.

Older women enjoy improvements in many aspects of health when taking Hormone Replacement Therapy.

About three- quarters of patients who complained of night sweats and hot flushes found the symptoms vanished after a year of hormone replacement.

Even in women who were well past menopause and did not suffer hot flushes, there was a marked improvement in sleep, sexuality and joint pain as a result of the treatment, according to a study released on Friday in the British Medical Journal Online First.

Experts last night called for HRT guidelines to be reviewed.

The International Menopause Society said the findings reinforced the need for doctors to treat women as individuals, even though current guidelines limit the use of HRT to younger women going through the menopause for around five years.

It concluded earlier this year that the health risks of HRT had been greatly exaggerated.

In the UK an estimated one million-women are taking HRT, down from two million at the height of its popularity six years ago, before scares about heart disease and breast cancer caused a mass exodus from the treatment.

The latest study is the first to focus on specific measures of quality of life in those taking HRT compared with a placebo.

It found fewer women on HRT after one year suffered:

• Hot flushes (9 per cent compared with 25 per cent)
• Night sweats (14 per cent compared with 23 per cent)
• Aching joints and muscles (57 per cent compared with 63 per cent)
• Insomnia (35 per cent compared with 41 per cent)

However, one in six reported breast tenderness  -  twice as many as those on the dummy drug  -  and other menopausal symptoms including depression were similar in both groups.

The trial, funded by Britain's Medical Research Council, examined 2,000 women aged 50 to 69 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand out of 5,600 originally recruited in 1999.

The women had an average age of 64 years, and had gone through the menopause 13 years ago.

The trial, led by Professor Alastair MacLennan from the University of Adelaide, Australia, was scheduled to last ten years.

But it was stopped after a worldwide health scare was sparked in 2002 by the U.S. Women's Health Initiative study, which claimed taking HRT increased a woman's risk of breast cancer, heart disease and strokes.

Professor MacLennan said HRT guidelines may have to be reviewed in the light of the new information. He added: 'Combined HRT improves sleep, aches and pains, and sexual functioning.

'These gains can now be factored in to a woman's choice to use combined HRT.

'This benefit must be weighed against the overall short and longterm risks, which must be individualised for women based on years since menopause, medical history, and chosen regimen.'

Dr David Sturdee, president of the International Menopause Society and a consultant gynaecologist in Solihull, West Midlands, said research evidence shows HRT is 'generally safe' for healthy women going through the menopause.

He said 'This is a significant study, which supports our views on HRT.

'It shows that HRT can offer real benefits to most women experiencing menopausal symptoms.
'Our advice remains the same: Each woman is an individual, and she needs to discuss what's right for her with her doctor, in the light of her medical history.

'This study reinforces the benefits of appropriate use and there should not be an arbitrary limit on its use.'