Hormone replacement
therapy (HRT) is offered to menopausal and postmenopausal women. HRT involves replacing estrogens and progesterones, two hormones that decline in production during menopause. When estrogens and progesterones are diminished, a woman will experience hot flashes, mood changes, urinary difficulties, vaginal dryness, and irregular menstrual cycles until menstruation ceases permanently. HRT allows women to replenish diminished hormone levels to reduce symptoms of menopause, but there are risks involved for diabetic women as well as non-diabetic women using HRT.
Elevated Glucose Levels
Using HRT can increase the chances of developing diabetes. HRT can also aggravate existing diabetic conditions, because the act of replacing estrogens in the body can increase glucose levels in your blood. Diabetic women should have blood sugar levels monitored regularly by a physician to note if any changes in levels occur during hormone replacement therapy.
Heart Disease
Researchers from the Institute of Preventative Medicine at the Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, reveal in the February 2003 issue of the journal BMJ a connection between hormone replacement therapy and ischemic heart disease. Research fellow E Løkkegaard, senior registrar A. T. Pedersen, professor B. L. Heitmann, statistician Z. Jovanovic, professor N. Keiding, Y. A. Hundrup, M.A., consultant E. B. Obel, and professor B. Ottesen explain in an article titled "Relation between hormone replacement therapy and ischemic heart disease in women: prospective observational study," that after studying 19,898 nurses over age 45 who used HRT that there is an increased risk of death in diabetic women from ischemic heart disease.
In an article appearing the March 16, 2003 issue of the newspaper Heart Disease Weekly entitled "Higher risks for women with diabetes using hormone replacement therapy," it is revealed that diabetic females that use HRT have an elevated risk of death caused by cardiovascular conditions including heart attacks, heart disease, and ischemic heart disease. The article reveals that it is believed that an elevation in blood sugar levels is responsible for the increased risks of death due to cardiovascular conditions.
Strokes
In an article appearing on Medical News Today titled "HRT health risks greater than benefits," it is revealed that diabetic women as well as non-diabetic women are more likely to have a stroke after using HRT. A study being conducted by the National Institutes of Health of the USA in 2004 in Hawaii on 145 women using HRT was halted, because the researchers found that the risks outweighed any potential benefits that women could derive from engaging in the therapy. Despite the fact that study was expected to continue for the remainder of 2004, researchers contacted the women in the study and advised them to stop using estrogen replacements, and the women were further advised to consult their physicians to discuss the benefits versus the risks of using HRT. The article also mentions a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health of the USA conducted in 2002: a five-year study that was ended three years early due to the discovery that HRT led to increased risks of cardiovascular conditions, blood clotting conditions, and breast cancer in some women.
Venous Thromboembolism
In an article appearing in the July 2008 issue of the newspaper Pulse titled "Journal watch: HRT risks assessed," it is revealed that women using HRT, both diabetic and non-diabetic alike, are at a higher risk of both strokes and the development of a venous thromboembolism. HRT has been linked to a 32 percent increase in the risk of having a stroke. Women using HRT have a doubled chance of developing a venous thromboembolism: a condition characterized by a blood clot forming in a vein which, in turn, causes, redness of the skin, blocked blood flow in the area, swelling, and pain. The condition commonly occurs in the arms, pelvis, and legs and a venous thromboembolism can travel to the lungs or heart and cause chest pains, respiratory complications, loss or consciousness, and the female may begin coughing up blood.
Tags: hormone replacement, ischemic heart, ischemic heart disease, article appearing, cardiovascular conditions
