by The United States was able to scrap warnings of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in a large amount of treatment for treatment for menopause.
On Thursday afternoon, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gathers a committee with several supporters of the therapy to discuss whether the federal guidelines are exaggerating the risk of women.
Currently, HRT and other treatments that use estrogen are warning against increasing the risk of strokes, blood clots, dementia and breast cancer, and should not be used to prevent cardiovascular diseases or dementia.
However, Marty Makary, the head of the FDA, said that the risks of treatment – which are used for hot flushes and other menopause – are exaggerated and the advantages are “overwhelming”.
“For decades, hormone replacement therapy for women has helped women to alleviate the symptoms of menopause, including hot flushes, drought, mood swings, weight gain and poor sleep quality, to name just a few,” said Dr. Makary.
If the treatment begins 10 years before the menopause, HRT could reduce the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s and prevent osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases, he added.
No opportunity for public comments
Dr. Makary accused the declining use of HRT in a clinical study in the early 2000s – after the recording of an increased risk of breast cancer and strokes – which he had not repeated in later studies.
Previously, he claimed in a podcast that there are “no medication that improves the health results of a population” apart from antibiotics.
However, the problem is still controversial in the medical community.
Critics said that the committee comprises a number of doctors that Dr. Makary’s attitude towards HRT agree and, according to the New York Times, have no way of receiving public comments.
“This is not another public meeting of the FDA in the past,” said Diana Zuckerman, President of the Think Tank of the National Center for Health Research.
“Nobody in the audience is allowed to speak. Nobody can ask questions,” she continued, said that most participants had a positive view of hormone therapy.
“Menopause should not be medicalized”
The description of the event on the FDA website is: “Hormone replacement therapy has long been an important treatment option for women to relieve the symptoms of menopause, including potential health benefits.
“In the past two decades, however, HRT has been surrounded by confusing stories about possible risks.”
At the beginning of this week, the American Journal of Physicians published an editorial final HRT with limited advantages and considerable damage.
“The menopause is a positive life experience for many women and should not be medicalized,” the authors wrote.
