Though the breast cancer experts recommend avoiding or limiting hormone replacement therapy, but a new study by Danish researchers suggests that if a woman uses a cream or skin patch or takes alternate hormone combinations, the risk of heart attack is less.
Danish researchers followed nearly 700,000 healthy women. They found those who took estrogen for three weeks followed by a week of estrogen and progesterone had lower heart attack risk as this cycle mimics the body's natural processes.
Younger women aged 51 to 54 had a 24 percent higher risk of heart attack than women who had never taken HRT. A continuous dose of HRT -- when estrogen and progesterone are taken together every day gives a 35 percent higher risk of heart attack.
The study found that if HRT was taken on a cyclical basis -- with estrogen pills for 25 days, adding progestin for the second half of the month and then taking no pills for three to five days -- women had a lower risk of heart attack.
Furthermore, patches or gels lowered the risk of heart attack by between 38 percent to 44 percent. The study is published in the latest issue of the European Heart Journal.
