More than one thousand Iowa women are taking part in a hormone replacement therapy study that’s being hlated by the National Institutes of Health. University of Iowa clinics in Iowa City, Davenport and Des Moines are affiliated with the study of estrogen and progestin. It was thought the combination of drugs would provide relief from symptoms of menopause while protecting from heart disease and brittle bones, but experts says it’s NOT the case. The U-of-I’s Dr. Jim Torner has a two-part message for 11-hundred Iowa women: stop taking the study medication and contact the clinic.Dr. Torner is co-principal investigator of the study and is a professor of epidemiology at the U-of-I. There are 40 medical centers nationwide taking part in the National Institutes of Health study, other elements of which are continuing. Torner says the study’s risks exceed the benefits and that’s why this arm of the study is being stopped.Torner says cardiovascular benefit didn’t happen the way they thought it might. Also, the risk of strokes was raised, while the risk of breast cancer was also higher. Among the benefits, an N-I-H report says the drug combination did cut the risk of colon cancer and hip fractures. Dr. Torner says women using the estrogen-progestin combination shouldn’t panic, but should ask their doctors if they should quit.
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