Internet pharmacist claims HRT "cuts CHD risk" and other benefits

DoctorSolve, a Canadian Internet pharmacy, claims that new analysis of hormone replacement therapy "reveals that HRT offers many benefits for menopausal women, including reducing the risk of coronary heart disease."

The pharmacy, which has filled over 200,000 US prescriptions, argues that published results from a 2002 Women's Heart Initiative and Heart Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) "created a dramatic shift in the use of HRT for menopausal women." Surveys also found that the proportion of women aged 50-74 years using the treatment plunged from 42% in the USA to 28% after the study.

However, the WHI and HERS results which indicated increased risks for HRT users of cardiac events, strokes, breast cancer, hip fractures and colorectal cancers, may have been overstated, according to DoctorSolve's Paul Zickler. Dr Zickler said: "the beneficial effects of HRT for women between the ages of 50-59 outweigh the risks and provide an overall improvement in quality of life."