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Hormone Replacement Therapy in question

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Hormone Replacement Therapy in question

Research on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) ended early for the Women's Health Initiative, when in July their research found an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, breast cancer and blood clots in women who used HRT for five years or more. The results of the study were printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association. For years "HRT was touted as preventing bone loss, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer and wrinkles and as a way to improve women's sex life and make them more beautiful." (Multinational Monitor, July/August 2002)

Despite these claimed benefits, the drugs where not compared to placebos in random control studies. The mass marketing of hormone pills began in 1966 and by 1975, " Premairn, the leading estrogen pill, was one of the top five most prescribed drugs in the United States." Between the years 1966 and 1975, it was found that a leading figure involved in promoting the wonders of estrogen had been financed by one of the top drug companies that sold Premairn. Even though there had been questions raised over the years regarding the validity of HRT, "Estrogen pill sales rose from 13.6 million prescriptions in 1982 to 31.7 million in 1992."