This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Hormone replacement therapy linked to dry eye

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

BOSTON — Postmenopausal women on hormone replacement therapy are at increased risk of dry eye, especially if they are on estrogen alone, according to data from The Women's Health Study. This is one of the first studies to link hormone supplements to dry eye, researchers said.

Debra A. Schaumberg, ScD, MPH, and colleagues assessed 25,665 postmenopausal women. The women were divided into 3 groups: estrogen use alone, estrogen use plus progesterone/progestin use and no HRT use. They were asked about use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) at baseline, at 12 months and at 36 months, and were asked about dry eye symptoms at 48 months.

Dr. Schaumberg found that each 3-year increase in the duration of HRT use was associated with a significant 15% elevation in risk of clinically diagnosed dry eye syndrome or severe symptoms. Results were similar for the combined end point of clinically diagnosed dry eye syndrome and severe syndromes.

The results of the study were published earlier this week in the Journal of American Medical Association.