Menopausal hormone replacement therapy

In this paper, the evolution of postmenopausal hormone replacement is reviewed, with an evidence-based approach and particular emphasis on the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study and Women's Health Initiative reports. This therapy will continue to evolve and have pertinence for women with menopausal symptoms and for osteoporosis prevention in selected patients.     

The effect of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy on endometrial bleeding

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (exclusively oestrogen or sequential/continuous combined oestrogen-progestogen treatment) on endometrial bleeding, including the histological alteration of the endometrium. PATIENTS: From January 2000 to December 2005, 5893 women were treated by the authors in the menopause unit of their department. They examined the frequency of menopausal bleeding in treated and control groups. In case of bleeding, dilatation and fractional curettage was always carried out and the tissues were histologically evaluated. RESULTS: In menopausal patients who did not obtain hormone replacement therapy, bleeding occurred twice as frequently as in the treated group. Proliferating or hyperplastic endometrium was observed mainly among the treated patients, suggesting that in due time, even before the age of menopause, hormonal treatment might decrease hyperplasia and indirectly the chance of occurrence of adenocarcinoma. Hyperplasia was found more frequently in patients obtaining only oestrogen. According to the authors' view, unbalanced oestrogen treatment might further aggravate the existing hyperplasia of the endometrium. In the group treated with hormonal therapy, only simplex hyperplasia was observed. No case of complex hyperplasia with atypia was found among these patients. In the majority of patients on continuous balanced hormonal therapy, the myometrium underwent atrophy and the frequency of hyperplasia, including the chance of bleeding, mostly decreased. Endometrial polyps most frequently were found under hormonal therapy, but no acceptable explanation can be provided. The rate of cervical polyps was also higher in this group. CONCLUSIONS: According to the observations of the authors, hormone replacement therapy does not increase the risk of endometrial carcinoma. Combined preparations decrease the frequency of hyperplasia and consequently the chance of occurrence of adenocarcinoma.     

Menopause and hormone replacement therapy

Due to the improving life expectancy of women spend third of their active life after the menopause. Estrogen deficiency can be caused by both natural and artificial menopause. The lack of estrogen can directly worsen the quality of life and epidemiological evidence suggests association with development of certain diseased states. Hormone replacement with natural estrogens has been proven to be successful for various indications: it reduces the menopausal vasomotor and psychological symptoms thus improving quality of life. It can also be used to prevent harmful effects of estrogen deficiency in various organs. Literature review supports the role of estrogen in atherosclerosis and osteoporosis prevention. Further evidence required establishing the role of estrogens in secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. Also needs to be explained why the beneficial effects of estrogen therapy in osteoporosis seem to disappear soon after cessation of therapy. Currently the relative risk increase of breast cancer during long-term hormone replacement therapy cannot be exactly measured. Nevertheless, substantial reduction of mortality in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer can also be seen with women on hormone replacement as compared to controls. Some data support the negative correlation of residual but still detectable, endogen estrogen and atherosclerosis and similarly to osteoporosis. The same residual estrogen levels seem to correlate positively with breast cancer. The recognition (and further acceptance) of the role of the residual estrogens might have influence on the indication, choice and dosage of preparation and duration of hormone replacement therapy. Overall evidence is in favor of the need medical attention for menopause: which ranges from preventive screening to long term hormone replacement therapy. The decision to treat requires the risks and benefits taken into consideration. This highly specialized care is provided in menopause clinics in Hungary. New oestrogen like agents are being developed like the selective estrogen receptor modulators, the tibolone and the phyto-estrogens. They provide tissue-specific effect acting as estrogen agonistics, sustaining the beneficial preventive and therapeutic effects of the estrogens, but in the breast and endometrial tissue they behave like estrogen antagonists avoiding the side effects of the current used oestrogens. They might play a significant role in the treatment of menopause in the future.     

激素补充治疗与代谢综合征

众所周知激素补充治疗(hormone replacement therapy,HRT)能够有效改善妇女的绝经相关症状。绝经早期开始HRT,对妇女的心血管疾病、骨质疏松及老年痴呆有预防作用。妇女绝经后代谢综合征(metabolic syndrome,MS)的发生风险增加。HRT对MS中的肥胖、血糖、血脂和血压有何影响,将在本文中综述。     

心血管疾病与激素补充疗法

绝经后妇女体内雌激素水平下降对高血压、高血脂、肥胖的发生有负面影响,而这些都是心血管疾病(Cardiovascular diseases,CVD)发生的风险因素。雌激素通过改善血管功能、胆固醇水平、血糖代谢、血压以及保护心肌的作用,具有潜在改善CVD风险的作用。激素补充疗法(Hormone replacement therapy,HRT)能有效治疗绝经相关症状,绝经后妇女HRT不适于作为CVD的一级和二级预防。但是,如果在围绝经期和绝经后早期对有绝经症状的中年妇女使用HRT,会形成一个对心血管有保护作用的"时间窗"。     

Medical issues and hormone replacement therapy

The debate surrounding postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has become more contentious in the past decade. The relationship between HRT and venous thrombotic events has been confirmed, although the absolute risk is small. Evidence of a relationship between breast cancer and HRT is stronger. Randomized controlled trials reveal an association with cardiovascular events in women with known heart disease, a possibly diminished overall quality of life due to HRT, and worsening of urinary incontinence. There is also some evidence associating HRT with ovarian cancer. However, longitudinal studies continue to demonstrate over the long term that HRT use is associated with fewer cardiovascular events and a reduced risk of developing dementia. Future studies may show that a lower daily dose of HRT can reduce the risks while still providing benefit.     

植物雌激素与激素替代治疗的比较

过去10年大量证据表明绝经后妇女长期应用激素替代治疗弊大于利。天然的植物雌激素做为一种甾体激素以外的性激素替代物引起了人们的广泛关注。其在改善围绝经期症状,降低血脂水平,防止骨质疏松,预防尿失禁等方面有着有益作用,但其对是否增加乳腺癌、子宫内膜癌风险,对认知功能及对生育能力的影响存在争议。该文就当前研究进行综述。     

激素补充治疗的个性化治疗

激素补充治疗是医学治疗,要有明确的治疗适应证和禁忌证,要根据患者的需求和存在的主要问题选择治疗方案和使用期限,根据患者合并的其他并发症调整治疗方案,应定期随诊并根据患者的反应及时调整治疗方案。     

Physician gender and hormone replacement therapy discussion

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a major issue confronting millions of women today, and general internal medicine and family practice physicians are an important source of information and counseling on this issue. Previous studies have suggested that HRT discussion and prescribing are more frequent with female than with male physicians, but others have suggested age and practice setting may be the reason for observed differences. We attempted to determine if physician gender influenced HRT discussion frequency between physicians and their patients using cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected at general internal medicine and family practice clinics at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. Twenty-seven family practice and internal medicine resident physicians (15 female, 12 male) participated. There were 127 female patients age 45 and older. Audio-taped observations of patient-physician visits collected during 1995 for a study on patient-physician communication and patient satisfaction were used. There was less frequent discussion with female than male physicians (OR = 0.42, p = 0.0014). HRT was discussed during 51 visits. Patients initiated HRT discussion in 39.2% of visits in which it was discussed. Patients with diabetes were less likely to discuss HRT (OR = 0.25, p = 0.0122). Increasing year of physician residency was associated with decreased discussion of HRT (OR = 0.51, p < 0.0001). In this health sciences center, with physicians similar in age and training, male physicians discussed HRT significantly more often than did female physicians.     

Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer

The concern that postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may cause cancer of the breast has generated much research in epidemiology, endocrinology, and tumor cell biology. The recognition that naturally occurring 17beta-estradiol is a weak genotoxic and mutagenic carcinogen provides a plausible background for the association of breast cancer with HRT. However, because of the small anticipated effect and several confounding factors, the epidemiology of this association is complex. The consensus at this writing is that long-term HRT (>10 years) is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, which, on average, is equivalent to the risk associated with delaying menopause for the same period of time. The particular risk depends on the duration and probably the dose to which the individual woman is exposed, as well as on a number of predisposing environmental and genetic factors. One clinical implication of the data reviewed here is that the dosage of HRT chosen should be the lowest that produces the desired effect. The use of HRT in women with a history of breast cancer is also addressed. Low-dose estrogen together with a selective estrogen receptor modulator to protect the breast may be a treatment option for women with severe symptoms of estrogen deficiency.     

Willingness to pay for hormone replacement therapy

This study addresses the question of willingness to pay (WTP) for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in order to alleviate menopausal symptoms. The woman obtains utility from consumption of goods and health. The purchase of a treatment is represented as a shift in the health production function during the treatment period. The mean WTP for the HRT is estimated using a parametric and a non-parametric method. The mean WTP based on these two methods is similar in both cases and amounts to about SEK 40 000 per year. Further, it is shown that the mean WTP is above the mean treatment cost of HRT. Finally, the implied WTP per gained quality adjusted life year (QALY) is estimated at about SEK 120 000 and SEK 160 000 based on the rating scale (RS) and time trade-off (TTO) methods, respectively. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1999～2003年浙江大学医学院附属妇产科医院HRT用药分析

目的分析激素替代治疗(hormone replacement therapy,HRT)药物在浙江大学医学院附属妇产科医院(浙医妇院)的用药情况,了解其与人们对更年期疾病的重视程度.方法收集了浙医妇院1999～2003年HRT用药以及医保前后的用药比较,进行纵向比较.采用趋势检验与卡方检验.结果1999～2003年浙医妇院的HRT用药量的格局有显著变化,尼尔雌醇片的用量均呈逐年减少(P＜0.01),而补佳乐片的用量逐年增多(P＜0.01),倍美力片的用量逐年增加(P＜0.01);医保前后各类HRT用药有显著变化.结论HRT用药发生显著变化,其主要影响因素是人们对生命质量的重视程度.     

1999～2003年浙江大学医学院附属妇产科医院HRT用药分析

目的 :分析激素替代治疗 (hormone replacement therapy,HRT)药物在浙江大学医学院附属妇产科医院 (浙医妇院 )的用药情况 ,了解其与人们对更年期疾病的重视程度。方法 :收集了浙医妇院 1999～ 2 0 0 3年 HRT用药以及医保前后的用药比较 ,进行纵向比较。采用趋势检验与卡方检验。结果 :1999～ 2 0 0 3年浙医妇院的 HRT用药量的格局有显著变化 ,尼尔雌醇片的用量均呈逐年减少 (P<0 .0 1) ,而补佳乐片的用量逐年增多 (P<0 .0 1) ,倍美力片的用量逐年增加 (P<0 .0 1) ;医保前后各类 HRT用药有显著变化。结论 :HRT用药发生显著变化 ,其主要影响因素是人们对生命质量的重视程度