NUCCA News - Hormone replacement therapy helps fight diabetes

AFP[ TUESDAY, JANUARY 07, 2003 03:20:03 PM ]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/comp/articleshow?artid=33663732

WASHINGTON: Hormone replacement therapy may reduce by 35 per cent risk for diabetes in female heart disease sufferers, according to the results of a new study.

Despite their optimism over results of the study published on Monday, which surveyed more than 2,700 women, the authors remained cautious over the use generally of HRT.

"The potential benefit to patients for one health outcome needs to be weighed against the risk for others, such as coronary events and breast cancer," said Dr. Alka Kanaya, lead author in the study 'Glycemic effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy' published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"But our data allude to important metabolic benefits of HRT that should be studied further," said Kanaya, a professor of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco.

Recommendations about HRT were radically modified in 2002 after a US study showed an increased risk for heart disease and breast cancer in women who receive the treatment at menopause.

HRT seeks to replace hormones which the ovaries stop producing at menopause, in order to counter osteoporosis and other medical conditions.