Hormone Replacement Therapy Protects Women’s Hearts

By: Physicians Preference RX

Did you know that restoring and balancing hormones can help women prevent heart disease and live a longer life? A new imaging study by Cedars-Sinai suggests that women using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat menopausal symptoms have a LOWER risk of death as well as lower levels of plaque buildup in the arteries (atherosclerosis), compared to women not using hormone therapy.(1)

The research included the health records of more than 4,200 women who received a coronary calcium scan at Cedars-Sinai from 1998 to 2012. The CT scan measures the amount of calcium in the arteries. A higher level of calcium indicates plaque buildup, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

In this latest study – after accounting for age, coronary calcium score, and cardiovascular risk factors (including diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol)—women using hormone replacement therapy were:

• 30 percent less likely to die than those not on hormone therapy
• 20 percent more likely to have a PERFECT calcium score of zero (indicating a low likelihood of plaque in arteries and low risk of heart attack)
• 36 percent less likely to have a coronary calcium score that indicated extensive atherosclerosis and a 10-fold increase in heart attack risk.

This means that replacing hormones, such as estrogen, can keep women’s hearts healthier than if they were to just let their hormone levels naturally decline over time after menopause.

Estrogen has been shown in the scientific literature to:

• Improve total cholesterol by raising HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lowering LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, as well as apolipoprotein B, and lipoprotein(a)
• Diminish homocysteine, a risk factor for stroke
• Reduce levels of fibrinogen, a protein responsible for blood clotting
• Regulate plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), another factor in blood clotting
• Increase insulin sensitivity (and thereby decrease insulin resistance, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease)
• Relax stiffness of the arterial wall, a predictor of coronary heart disease

By replenishing your hormones, you will not only resolve your symptoms of hormonal imbalance, you will also be protecting your heart.
Don’t forget to take your hormones and protect your heart.

Call Physicians Preference Pharmacy today for your bioidentical hormone prescription needs at 281-828-9088.

Research
1. Study: Hormone Replacement Therapy May Help Improve Women’s Heart Health, Overall Survival (Source: www.Cedars-Sinai.edu)