This is indeed very confusing. Last week's report did not in fact say that there is NO association with HRT and breast cancer, but explained that HRT, like any medicine has risks, but for most women, when it is used correctly, especially for women under the age of 60, there are far more benefits than risks. To pick up on a few of the points raised--
The drop in rates of breast cancer in fact started before the WHI trial was reported and before the drop in HRT use.
The known association in breast cancer risk with HRT used for more than 5 years after the age of 50, is not as great as the known association with being overweight or taking 2 or more units of alcohol per day.
The difference in response to HRT of the older women in the trial, compared to women in their 50s, is in relation to the cardiovascular effect--we know that estrogen is very likely to be beneficial to the cardiovascular system if used in the early menopausal years, when blood vessels are healthy. However, if we wait until later years when the vesselas are already diseased, HRT is unlikely to be beneficial and may cause further harm in a very small numbe rof women.
Finally, the Million Women referred to has since been shown to be extremely flawed and no firm conclusions can be drawn from that study.
We have a full report of this ongoing controversy in our next magazine, due out soon.
Also, in the hRT section of this website there is a useful table summarising benefits and risks.
Best wishes
Heather
