Associated Press
CHICAGO — Estrogen replacement therapy significantly improved bone density in frail, elderly women, according to a study that suggests beginning the treatment even late in life may be beneficial.
The findings are encouraging, though more research is needed to determine whether the improved bone density helps prevent fractures in elderly women, said Dr. Dennis Villareal, the study’s lead author.
The study, which appears in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association, is believed to be the first to focus on estrogen replacement therapy in frail women over 75 — those at greatest risk of fractures.
Villareal said it was believed that bone loss peaked after menopause, then slowed as women got older. But recent studies have suggested that bone loss continues and may even accelerate as women age.
There were questions about whether estrogen could improve bone density in frail, elderly women — and whether they could tolerate it, researchers said.
The study found that few of the women experienced side effects from the estrogen. It also found similar and possibly even greater effects on bone density in older women compared to younger women.
Patients and their doctors must weigh the potential benefits of estrogen therapy with the risks, which include a slightly elevated chance of breast cancer, Villareal said.
At the end of the study, bone density in the lumbar spine had increased an average of 4.3 percent among women who received estrogen.
Bone density in the women’s hips increased an average of 1.7 percent, and among the women who adhered most closely to the hormone replacement therapy, femoral neck bone density increased 2.5 percent.
In other health and science news Tuesday:
The research, by scientists at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., involved the IGF2R gene, which suppresses tumors and regulates fetal growth.
Researchers found that humans, other primates and their closest relatives have two activated copies of the gene. However, sheep, pigs, mice and nearly all non-primate mammals receive only one working copy of the gene, making them more prone to developing cancer and, if cloned, to suffer from complications such as overly large offspring, underdeveloped lungs and enlarged hearts, the scientists said.
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