         
|
 |
||
1st appeared 11 September 1998 Very Low Levels of Estrogen May Prevent Fractures in Women In a recent UCSF study, researchers found that very low levels of estrogen -- much lower than women currently achieve from taking hormone supplements -- may prevent bone fractures in postmenopausal women without causing adverse effects associated with estrogen therapies, such as uterine cancer and bleeding. According to the UCSF study, called "The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures," published in the September 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, women who retain low, but detectable levels of their own estrogen after menopause have a much lower risk of suffering hip and spine fractures than one-third of the US female population who have extremely low, almost undetectable levels of the hormone. "Based on our findings, it seems important for women to maintain at least a little estrogen in their systems after menopause," said Steven Cummings, UCSF professor of medicine and epidemiology and lead author of the study. "Our study suggests that for women whose estrogen level is less than 5 pg per milliliter, a much lower than standard dose of estrogen may be effective in preventing bone fractures." He added that approximately 10 million American postmenopausal women have undetectable estrogen. Although low doses of estrogen have not been tested yet in postmenopausal women to determine their effects on breast and uterine cancer, Cummings said that average postmenopausal women have low levels of estrogen and also have a very low risk of uterine bleeding and endometrial cancer. Therefore, he added, it is very likely that a small dose of the hormone will prevent bone loss and fractures without increasing a postmenopausal woman's risk of uterine cancer, bleeding and possibly breast cancer. Links: New England Journal of Medicine source: Abby Sinnott, News Services |
|||
DAYBREAK | ARCHIVES | CALENDAR | CAMPUS NOTES Copyright
©1998 Regents of the University of California. All
rights reserved. |
|||
