Hormone therapy not recommended for disease prevention: U.S. panel

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The risks of taking hormone therapy to prevent heart disease and osteoporosis in post menopausal women far outweigh the benefits and such treatment is not recommended, according to new guidelines from an influential panel of U.S. health advisers.

The guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reaffirm the group's 2005 guidelines recommending against the treatment.

They apply only to hormone therapy for prevention of chronic disease. They do not apply to the use of hormones to treat symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes or vaginal dryness, or to women under age 50 who have had a hysterectomy.

"Our recommendation is the same as it was for 2005," said Dr. Kirstin Bibbins-Domingo, a researcher and internist at the University of California San Francisco and a member of the task force.

"In evaluating the evidence for both the benefits and the harms of these therapies, the task force recommends against these therapies for the purpose of preventing chronic conditions," she said in a telephone interview.

The guidelines are based on a review of the most recent scientific evidence, which showed that estrogen alone and estrogen plus progestin reduce the risk of bone fractures, but increase the risk for stroke, blood clots, gallbladder disease and incontinence.

While taking estrogen alone reduced the risk for breast cancer, estrogen plus progestin increased the risk for dementia and breast cancer.

Doctors say the guidelines largely reflect current medical practice, and are not likely to stir controversy, unlike some of the task force's previous recommendations on the use of screening tests for breast cancer and prostate cancer.

The recommendations address the belief that giving older women hormone replacement therapy might prevent some age-related diseases, such has heart disease and dementia.

But the largest trial to look at the practice, called the Women's Health Initiative study, in 2002 found that women who took estrogen plus progestin for five years had higher rates of ovarian cancer, breast cancer, strokes and other health problems.

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Hormone therapy not recommended for disease prevention: U.S. panel