Does hormone replacement therapy (HRT) raise a woman's cataract risk? A new study suggests just that.
An eight-year prospective study of more than 30,000 postmenopausal Swedish women found that those who were using or had used HRT had significantly higher rates of cataract removal, compared with women who had never used HRT. Alcohol consumption seemed to increase HRT's harmful effect.
The HRT study was led by Birgitta E. Lindblad, MD, Sundsvall Hospital, Sweden as part of the Swedish Mammography Cohort (SMC), established to study lifestyle factors and chronic diseases.
"If future studies confirm the associations we found, increased risk for cataract removal should be added to the list of potential negative HRT outcomes," Dr. Lindblad said.
More than 4,300 cataract removal surgeries were performed in participants between 1997 and 2005. The risk for cataract removal was increased by 14 percent in women who had ever used HRT and by 18 percent in current HRT users, compared with women who never used HRT. Longer duration of HRT use correlated with increased risk.
Current HRT users who also reported having more than one alcoholic drink per day had 42 percent increased risk, compared with women who used neither HRT nor alcohol. Smoking status did not significantly affect risk. Data were adjusted for exposure to external (exogenous) estrogens such as birth control pills, as well as reproductive and other health factors.
