Menopause

There has been a lot of speculation regarding how HRT affects the body and many women have now stopped taking the drug through fears of becoming ill. So are they right to stop taking something that was so effective, due to the fact that it could pose possible future health risks? Well, according to some experts yes they are and many women do not realise the full risks of HRT. For example, not many women realise that HRT can in fact affect how a mammogram turns out.

What is a Mammogram and How Can HRT Affect One?

A mammogram is a test which is done on women in order to detect cancer as soon as possible. There has been a lot of speculation whether mammograms are effective anyway and now with HRT it seems that mammogram results are even less accurate than they were before.

This is because HRT causes the tissue within the breasts to become denser. Mammograms are generally a lot harder to read when the tissue is quite dense and so there have been times when cancer has been missed due to the effects caused by HRT. However, the study which looked at 5,000 women showed that not all women were affected. Obviously every single person is different and so their effects will also be different. It seemed that older women who had less dense breasts were in fact the most affected after taking HRT.

So does taking HRT cause lasting damage to the increased breast density? Well it seems not, as women who were taking the test stopped halfway through and their breast density decreased.

The Reliability of a Mammogram

Another question people may ask themselves is why can't a new, stronger mammogram be introduced? Mammograms tend to be slightly unreliable as it is and this new research should prove that a stronger test needs to be done. HRT is fairly effective at beating menopausal symptoms and many women swear by it. The possible health risks are only slightly increased and the only real urgent problem is the fact that mammograms are not being able to spot cancer in denser breasts.

Overall it does seem like improvements have to be made to the mammogram testing process, but you do also have to look at the effects of HRT. It is completely down to personal preference whether you do choose to take the treatment, but at least now you know how it can affect a mammogram.

Hormone Replacement Therapy |