The latest research now says that if women begin taking the hormones shortly after menopause, the drugs do not raise the risk of heart disease and may in fact help in lowering it.
Estrogens are a group of steroid compounds, named for their importance in the estrous cycle, and functioning as the primary female sex hormone. Estrogens are used as part of some oral contraceptives, in estrogen replacement therapy of postmenopausal women, and in hormone therapy for transsexual women.
The new research, which appears in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, shows that taking estrogen for seven years or more after menopause reduces the chances of atherosclerosis or calcification of the arteries by as much as 60 percent.
However, the research also added that the women who delay taking estrogen for at least 10 years after menopause are at a significant risk from the drugs. The researchers now suggest that all women should use hormone replacement therapy, commonly called HRT, to get a relief from their symptoms of hot flashes etc when menopause begins.
LA Times quotes Dr. Robert W. Rebar, executive director of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine as saying, "We are clearly learning that the benefits of estrogen in young, healthy, symptomatic post-menopausal women outweigh the risks."
Additionally, the research also added that the benefits of HRT occur only if it is started before atherosclerosis begins to develop as once the calcification of the arteries has already set in; estrogen is known to produce damaging effects.
