Hormone Therapy News

Hormone therapies in menopausal women are associated with some beneficial effects, such as decreased risk for diabetes and fracture, but are also associated with increased risks for stroke, thromboembolic events, gallbladder disease and urinary incontinence, according to an evidence report and systematic review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Transgender women and men initiating cross-sex hormone therapy experienced anthropomorphic changes over 1 year associated with more feminine and masculine body fat distributions, respectively, with baseline BMI influencing the extent of any changes, according to findings published in European Journal of Endocrinology.

The risk for stroke in postmenopausal women was not increased with hormone therapy —regardless of administration route, type of therapy or active substance — when initiated within 5 years of menopause onset, study data show.

Patients with various disorders of sex development generally report being satisfied with hormone therapy, but survey responses regarding adverse events, knowledge of treatment combinations and the best age to initiate therapy show that more individualized treatment is needed.

Researchers in France reported that although long-term treatment with growth hormone improved growth in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, therapy did not fully restore patients’ genetic growth potential.

In the first year after discontinuation of postmenopausal hormone therapy, the risk for cardiac and stroke death increases, particularly among women aged younger than 60 years, according to findings published in Menopause.

Children born small for gestational age treated with growth hormone therapy did not experience any negative effects on cardiometabolic health in the 5 years after stopping treatment, with researchers also observing a possible benefit on lipid profile, according to study findings reported in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Working memory for short-term cognitive tasks after menopause may be protected with estradiol therapy in women, according to study findings published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

PHILADELPHIA — Compared with postmenopausal women using FDA-approved hormone therapy, those treated with estradiol and/or testosterone pellet therapy experienced six times the number adverse side effects, including abnormal uterine bleeding and subsequent hysterectomy, according to findings from a retrospective cohort study.

Women who receive growth hormone supplementation while undergoing in vitro fertilization may have an increased chance for clinical pregnancy and live birth compared with women who do not receive GH supplementation, study data show.