Study disputes HRT health risk fears

A NEW study disputes health scares over hormone replacement therapy (HRT), saying the treatment used by millions of post-menopausal women may reduce, rather than increase, the risk of heart disease.

HRT was at the centre of a health scare five years ago when a US study found it could increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer.

Health chiefs then advised that HRT should be taken for as short a time as possible and in Britain it was no longer recommended as a drug to prevent bone loss in women with a family history of osteoporosis.