HRT Use Plummets
posted 01/07/04

Tomorrow’s Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the use of hormone replacement therapy has plummeted in the U.S. since studies confirmed that HRT increases risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. Stanford University researchers studied databases reporting
retail pharmacy prescriptions and physician visits, finding a 66% drop in Prempro prescriptions and a 33% drop in Premarin prescriptions since 2002.

HRT use had steadily risen in the late 1990s (up to 90 million prescriptions in 1999). The trend reversed in July 2002 after the Women’s Health Initiative and the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study revealed convincing evidence of risk.

Premarin (equine estrogens) and Prempro (estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone) are trademarks of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Premarin’s name is a
condensation of the words “pregnant mare’s urine,” reflecting its source.

Here’s the reference:
Hersh AL, Stefanick ML, Stafford RS. National use of postmenopausal hormone therapy. JAMA 2004;291:47-53.

To subscribe to PCRM's Breaking Medical News, click here.

Breaking Medical News is a service of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20016, 202-686-2210. To join PCRM and receive the quarterly magazine, Good Medicine, log onto www.PCRM.org.

Media Center | Health | Research | About PCRM | Catalog | Join Us | Search | Site Index | Home

The site does not provide medical or legal advice. This Web site is for information purposes only.
Full Disclaimer | Privacy Policy