Ultra-Low-Dose Estrogen Patch Found Safe in Later Menopause - CME Teaching Brief� - MedPage Today
SAN FRANCISCO, July 17 -- Unopposed transdermal estradiol at an ultra-low dose over two years did not affect cognitive function or health-related quality of life in post-menopausal women, researchers here reported.
Their randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of 417 post-menopausal women, ages 60 to 80, at nine U.S. clinical centers, contrasted with two nationwide randomized trials (the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study and the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study).
The earlier studies showed that opposed and unopposed estrogen at the standard dose of 0.625 mg/d worsened cognitive function and increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.
But the new study showed no such cognitive worsening with a weekly transdermal patch that delivered estradiol at 0.014 mg/d to 209 women compared with 208 placebo controls, Kristine Yaffe, M.D., of the University of California San Francisco and the VA Medical Center here, and colleagues, reported in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology.
Posted by gruwell at July 18, 2006 5:39 AM | TrackBack