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www.fdanews.com/articles/90630-study-finds-estrogen-patch-may-be-safer-than-pill-for-older-women

STUDY FINDS ESTROGEN PATCH MAY BE SAFER THAN PILL FOR OLDER WOMEN

March 1, 2007

Women who take estrogen as hormone replacement therapy to counter the effects of menopause may be better off using a transdermal patch than swallowing a pill, according to a recent study.

Results of the six-year French study, known as ESTHER, were published in the Feb. 20 issue of the journal Circulation. The study found that the risk of postmenopausal women developing dangerous blood clots may decrease when estrogen therapy is delivered through a transdermal patch rather than in pill form.

Specifically, estrogen in pill form was found to increase the risk of a type of cardiovascular disease called venous thromboembolism (VTE), in which blood clots develop in deep veins -- such as those in the leg or pelvis -- or in the heart and lung arteries.

The study followed postmenopausal women between the ages of 45 and 70 from 1999 to 2006. It included 271 women who each had a first-documented episode of idiopathic VTE -- clotting that seems to arise spontaneously and for which the cause is unknown. The study also included a control group of 610 women.

( http://www.fdanews.com/ddl/34_9/ )