HRT puts thousands at risk

UP to 65,000 Irish women on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are putting their health at risk, medical experts warned yesterday.

A five-year study has shown that long-term use of oestrogen and progestin increased women’s risk of a stroke by 41%, a heart attack by 29% and breast cancer by up to 26%.

The breast cancer finding was the decisive factor in ending the study three years earlier than planned, according to scientists at the US-based National Institute of Health (NIH).