We just need clarify!
1 World Menopause Day was Sunday 19th October
2 The NICE Guidelines come out soon - mid November. The full report cites the latest research but the summary report (which most people will read) provides prescribing and management guidelnines for medical practitioners.
3 Yesterday the papers reported on some new research which happened to be published.
Three different things. Emma reported on all of these on the thread entitled "World Menopause Day and NICE" here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,29497.0.htmlThere was some discussion.
Several other member reported on the news as they reported is on threads here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,29505.0.htmland here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,29498.0.html 
(first time I think I've used that icon)
I really don't know why some members - Prajna, Grangravy and honeybun are knocking the study or trying to finding fault with it - or are suspicious of it.
I think everyone is agreed that news articles (especially in certain newspapers) are often sensational, misleading, and focus on headline grabbing sometimes at the expense of the accuracy of what is being reported. No-one disputes that.
We also all agree we would like to see the research summary. We don't know if the authors of the study are claiming that HRT is safe (ie using those words or similar) in their press release of the results of their study.
I would suggest that no scientist would ever make those conclusions on a subject so significant as this, on the basis of one study. As I said yesterday - reporting what was said on this site and by Dr Currie, it adds to the recent body of evidence which comes to the same conclusion - as does the British Menopause Society
http://www.thebms.org.uk/newsitem.php?newsid=87 which also recognises the small sample size etc etc
How can a study involving 136 women ( of whom 80 took HRT) be a farce? From what little we know a large group of women (80) were scanned every year for 10 years. At its best and if resources were available, other physiological and structural information will have been measured and recorded over the years, probably yielding an enormous amount of useful information about detailed changes that take place in a woman's body whilas she ages while taking HRT. The safety conclusion may well be one of many - but the most headline grabbing. The scans alone surely will yield incredibly useful data and will hopefully provided new medical insights.
How can this (what I imagine to be a detailed study) be a "bit of a farce", "suspicious" and a "limp sparkler"?? I am pleased that all of these studies are being carried out and reported so that we can find the original and read about them. It's very unfortunate that the press are sensationalist - but then they always have been.
Science (and through science, medicine) progresses through the accumulation of evidence produced in studies that test theories/hypotheses. Results are either consistent with or refute the hypotheses which then might have to be changed as a result.
The Women's Health Initiative and Million Women Study - initially did just that - and came to the conclusion that HRT was inherently unsafe - notably in older women and with long term use. These studies were later found to be flawed and the data re-evaluated and the conclusions (even from these flawed studies), modified. Later studies with better experimental design have come to different conclusions and the body of evidence is now accumulating which means these ideas need to be changed.
Most importantly many recent studies and trials are more rigorous, and specifiy for example which type of HRT is used. I hope the result of this new study does likewise - because different results have been obtained from different HRT types.
Also it is all about risk - especially absolute risk (eg 1 in 100), rather than relative risk (twice as risky - which would eg be 2 in a 100), which needs to be looked at compared to other risky things we do medication, alcohol, smoking, being fat, not exercising etc
The NICE Guidelines will also be reported widely and hopefully with much trumpeting!
Hurdity x
