Hormone Therapy Raises Blood Clot Risk in Menopausal Women

 

By David McAlary
 
A new U.S. study highlights more negative health effects women might suffer if they take hormone¹ supplements to combat the symptoms of aging. We know that taking the female hormones² estrogen and progestin can lead to increased risk of breast cancer and stroke. Now we learn that hormone replacement³ therapy can lead to potentially fatal blood clots⁵ too.
Two years ago, Gail Berry was sitting at her desk when her leg swelled⁶ and ached badly. Doctors found that she had a blood clot⁴.
"The ultrasound showed it was in the back of my right leg and I was admitted to the hospital for treatment," she said.
Ms. Berry also had a pulmonary embolus, which occurs when part of the blood clot breaks off and travels to the lung. That can be fatal. She had been taking estrogen with progestin to replace the lower natural levels of the hormones that occur during menopause. A new study of 16,000 women shows that the therapy significantly boosts the risk for a clot.
"The main finding of the study was that women who were assigned to take the hormone replacement therapy had about a doubling of the risk of blood clots, compared to women assigned to take placebo," said Mary Cushman. University of Vermont physician Mary Cushman led the study which appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association. She says it confirms what she sees among her private patients.
"In my practice I very commonly will see middle-aged⁷ women who are struggling with menopausal symptoms and have been prescribed hormone replacement therapy and subsequently experience a blood clot," she said.
Previous studies had suggested a higher chance for blood clots among hormone takers, but what researchers did not know until now was that certain groups of women are most susceptible⁸. For example, the risk increases with age. Women over age 70 are at more than seven times the risk. Dr. Cushman says being overweight also raises the danger of a clot, known medically as thrombosis.
"The women who had both obesity⁹ and hormone replacement were almost seven times more likely to develop thrombosis, compared to thinner women," she said.
In addition, the study found that the group of women with a genetic¹⁰ trait called Factor-Five Leiden were also more susceptible to blood clots.
Normally, aspirin¹¹ reduces the risk by thinning the blood, but the researchers found it did not help the women on hormones who took it.
But there are proven benefits for combined estrogen and progestin therapy. For one, it reduces the risk of the brittle¹² bone disease osteoporosis. For another, it has been shown to lower the risk for colon¹³ cancer.
Because of these reasons, U.S. government health officials are not recommending a ban on hormone treatments for women, but they are urging caution.
"They should be used at the lowest does for the shortest possible time," said Dr. Barbara Alving, this is Dr. Barbara Alving acting¹⁴ director of the U.S. government's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. "If you have been on hormones for years and years and years because you just felt good and did not bother to go off them, you really need to think about [whether it is] time to go off the hormones, and discuss this with your physician and gradually taper¹⁵ off."
This is what Gail Berry has done.
"I have not gone back on the hormones," she said. "I have lost about 30 pounds, and I feel much better."
Dr. Mary Cushman of the University of Vermont says that if women are considering beginning hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms, but have a family history of blood clots, they should undergo testing to determine whether they have the same genetic predisposition.
David McAlary, VOA News, Washington

注释：
supplement 补充
combat 抗击
symptom 症状
estrogen 雌激素
progestin 黄体酮
ultrasound  超声波
placebo 安慰剂
University of Vermont 佛蒙特大学
menopausal 更年期的
thrombosis 血栓症
osteoporosis 骨质疏松症
predisposition 倾向

1 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

2 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

3 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

4 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

5 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

7 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

8 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

9 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

10 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

11 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

12 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

13 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 taper   

n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小

参考例句：

• You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
• Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。