Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

'Daily Dose'

Aired May 08, 2003 - 10:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today's "Daily Dose" focuses on the issue that is of keen interest to menopausal women, HRT, hormone replacement therapy.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain why HRT may have little, if any, benefit.

I know a lot of women out there who will be listening to this report.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, a lot of women taking hormones because they say it makes them feel better. It just makes them feel like they have more energy, they sleep better, their mind work better, and so that's why the National Institutes of Health decided to see what the statistics would say. So they took a group of women and some of them got hormones and some of them got a placebo, and what they found is that compared to a placebo, which is of course a sugar pill -- it doesn't do anything -- hormones did not increase quality of life issues.

Let's take a look at some of the specific issues. For example, they found that hormones did not help improve women's energy level, or their sleep quality, their sexual satisfaction, or their mood or their cognition.

Now, this is on top of a study that came out last year that said that take hormones might actually be risky, that hormones increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke and breast cancer, and the longer that women stayed on these products, the longer they had this risk.

So of course, now this casts even more doubt -- here are some of the products that you see here. This casts even more doubt on what women ought to be taking, which is combined hormone replacement therapy, which is two different hormones put together. Now these products that you see here, made by Wyeth-Areston (ph), which is the major producer of these products, they said that before last year's study, 9.5 million women were taking these hormones. Now it's down to 5.5 million. Wyeth-Areston (ph) dismisses the findings of these studies. They say that the women in the study were not the kinds of women that would be taking these hormones for these purposes anyhow, so they say that they results don't really matter.

KAGAN: Well, do they say there is valid reason to take hormones at this point?

COHEN: We asked the question of the author, the main author of both of these studies and she -- here she is. She's written two studies that make hormones look pretty bad, but she says, yes, there really are some reasons why some women might want to take hormones. First of all, hormones could still work against hot flashes, especially in what's called a perimenopausal time, which is right when women begin going through menopause, and second of all, hormones could also decrease the risk of osteoporosis. There is some good scientific evidence that shows that. So what she said, is, look, as long as you know what risk you are taking, talk to your doctor, and you can think about whether you want to do it, but you really need to think about it, you really need to know what the risks are before you just go on them.

KAGAN: There is not just a simple clear-cut answer.

COHEN: No simple clear-cut answer, and every woman is different.

KAGAN: And it's not science, but besides the company having a problem with that study, there is a lot of women out there that would have an argument with that, saying yes, it does make a big difference.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. Some women would say -- I mean, I've talked to many women who say, I don't care what any study says -- I feel better when I take hormones. And I posed that to the author of this study, and she said, I know women like that, too, and I say, well, keep taking them if you want to, after you've talked to your doctor and you understand the risk.

But she also said that she suggests to people, you know what, you might think that they are making you feel better, but it's that you've been on them for so long, maybe you'd feel fine without them. So she suggests to women, try going off of them and see how you feel, try lowering your dose, and you might find that you do OK without them.

KAGAN: All right, good advice.

COHEN: Thank you.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 8, 2003 - 10:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today's "Daily Dose" focuses on the issue that is of keen interest to menopausal women, HRT, hormone replacement therapy.
Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain why HRT may have little, if any, benefit.

I know a lot of women out there who will be listening to this report.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, a lot of women taking hormones because they say it makes them feel better. It just makes them feel like they have more energy, they sleep better, their mind work better, and so that's why the National Institutes of Health decided to see what the statistics would say. So they took a group of women and some of them got hormones and some of them got a placebo, and what they found is that compared to a placebo, which is of course a sugar pill -- it doesn't do anything -- hormones did not increase quality of life issues.

Let's take a look at some of the specific issues. For example, they found that hormones did not help improve women's energy level, or their sleep quality, their sexual satisfaction, or their mood or their cognition.

Now, this is on top of a study that came out last year that said that take hormones might actually be risky, that hormones increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke and breast cancer, and the longer that women stayed on these products, the longer they had this risk.

So of course, now this casts even more doubt -- here are some of the products that you see here. This casts even more doubt on what women ought to be taking, which is combined hormone replacement therapy, which is two different hormones put together. Now these products that you see here, made by Wyeth-Areston (ph), which is the major producer of these products, they said that before last year's study, 9.5 million women were taking these hormones. Now it's down to 5.5 million. Wyeth-Areston (ph) dismisses the findings of these studies. They say that the women in the study were not the kinds of women that would be taking these hormones for these purposes anyhow, so they say that they results don't really matter.

KAGAN: Well, do they say there is valid reason to take hormones at this point?

COHEN: We asked the question of the author, the main author of both of these studies and she -- here she is. She's written two studies that make hormones look pretty bad, but she says, yes, there really are some reasons why some women might want to take hormones. First of all, hormones could still work against hot flashes, especially in what's called a perimenopausal time, which is right when women begin going through menopause, and second of all, hormones could also decrease the risk of osteoporosis. There is some good scientific evidence that shows that. So what she said, is, look, as long as you know what risk you are taking, talk to your doctor, and you can think about whether you want to do it, but you really need to think about it, you really need to know what the risks are before you just go on them.

KAGAN: There is not just a simple clear-cut answer.

COHEN: No simple clear-cut answer, and every woman is different.

KAGAN: And it's not science, but besides the company having a problem with that study, there is a lot of women out there that would have an argument with that, saying yes, it does make a big difference.

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. Some women would say -- I mean, I've talked to many women who say, I don't care what any study says -- I feel better when I take hormones. And I posed that to the author of this study, and she said, I know women like that, too, and I say, well, keep taking them if you want to, after you've talked to your doctor and you understand the risk.

But she also said that she suggests to people, you know what, you might think that they are making you feel better, but it's that you've been on them for so long, maybe you'd feel fine without them. So she suggests to women, try going off of them and see how you feel, try lowering your dose, and you might find that you do OK without them.

KAGAN: All right, good advice.

COHEN: Thank you.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com