激素替代疗法存在后续的危险

Study of hormone therapy shows some risks persist
By Andrew Stern
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A follow-up analysis of women taking hormone replacement therapy found that their heightened risk of breast cancer persisted even after they stopped taking the drug combination, researchers said on Tuesday.
芝加哥（路透社）----周二，研究者发表声明，对女性雌激素替代疗法的后续研究发现，即使停止用药，女性患乳腺癌的几率也有所增高。

The Women's Health Initiative study was halted prematurely in 2002 because of a 24 percent higher risk of breast cancer associated with the combination therapy of estrogen and progestin. Progestin is used to offset the heightened risk of uterine cancer from taking estrogen.
女性健康机构于2002年提前终止了激素替代疗法，以为他们发现联合使用雌激素和孕激素疗法后，乳腺癌发病率增加了24%。孕激素是用来消除使用雌激素后患子宫癌的危险。

The original study found women taking the combination of hormones also doubled their risk of blood clots, and raised their risks of stroke and heart attack.
早期的研究发现，联合使用两种激素治疗后，使得患血栓的风险加倍，并且患中风和心脏病的风险也增加。

The overriding conclusion from the two Women's Health Initiative trials involving 27,347 post-menopausal women, aged 50 to 79, was that the overall risks of long-term use of hormone therapy outweighed the benefits.
两个女性健康研究机构，在27，347名年龄在50-79岁更年期妇女中进行实验，最重要的一个研究结果是长期使用激素替代疗法的危险超过了益处。

The 2-1/2-year follow-up analysis, led by Gerardo Heiss of the University of North Carolina and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, assessed through 2005 the health of 15,730 women who took the combination of hormones.
由北卡罗莱州大学Gerardo Heiss 主持的该项研究持续了2年半的时间，并刊登在美国医学协会的期刊上。该项研究的对象为2005年使用联合激素的15，730名健康女性。

After the women stopped therapy, their heightened risk of breast cancer remained roughly the same. But their risks of heart attack, blood clots and stroke receded quickly back to levels among women who had not taken hormone therapy.
当停止使用激素疗法后，患乳腺癌的风险大致没变，但患心脏病、血栓和中风的危险迅速减小，达到与没有接受激素替代疗法的女性患病风险相同程度。

The ancillary benefits of combination hormone therapy -- lower risks of colon cancer and bone fractures -- also disappeared after therapy was stopped.
然而，当停止使用激素后，激素替代疗法的一些益处——结肠癌和骨折危险性降低，也相应的消失。

\"The good news is that after women stop taking combination hormone therapy, their risk of heart disease appears to decrease,\" said Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health that sponsored the original WHI study.
美国国家卫生研究院赞助WHI（妇女健康行动）研究的分部——国家心、肺、血液研究机构的主任Elizabeth Nabel博士说：“令人欣慰的是，当女性停止激素替代疗法后，患心脏病的危险降低。”

\"However, these findings also indicate that women who take estrogen plus progestin continue to be at increased risk of breast cancer, even years after stopping therapy,\" Nabel said in a statement.
“然而，这些研究结果还表明即使是停止治疗多年，联合使用雌激素和孕激素的妇女患乳腺癌的风险仍然比正常要高。”

EFFECTS LINGER
挥之不去的影响
\"The hormones' effects on breast cancer appear to linger,\" said Dr. Leslie Ford of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the NIH's National Cancer Institute. \"These findings reinforce the importance of women getting regular breast exams and mammograms, even after they stop hormone therapy.\"
美国卫生研究所癌症机构的癌症预防分部的Leslie Ford 博士书“激素对于乳腺癌的影响持续存在，这些研究结果更加提醒即使是那么已经停止使用激素替代疗法的女性平时做乳腺常规检查和X线检查的重要性”

The WHI study, designed to examine whether hormone therapy prevented heart attacks, has been closely scrutinized. The surprise findings triggered a steep drop in the use of combination therapy and recommendations to employ lower dosages of the hormones for the shortest possible time.
旨在探讨激素疗法是否能防止心脏病发作的WHI研究，一直被人们密切关注着。出人意料的结果表明了使用两种激素综合疗法的害处，我们建议在短时间内使用低剂量的激素。

In a news conference organized by drug maker Wyeth, the company, which is the leading maker of hormone replacement therapy, said the follow-up analysis was likely to add to the confusion for women faced with the decision about what to do about disruptive symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal atrophy.
全球领先的激素替代疗法药物制造厂商Wyeth召开的新闻发布会上声称，该后续的分析研究可能会使那些面临严重更年期症状，例如潮热，盗汗和阴道萎缩等的妇女更加困惑，她们到底应该如何解决这些更年期问题呢？

For one thing, the company said, the women in the study tended to be older -- average age 63, compared to the early 50s for most women at the onset of menopause -- and many did not have menopausal symptoms when they began taking the therapy.
该公司表示，与50年代初大多数更年期女性相比，该研究的研究对象平均年龄比较大，为63岁，她们当中的许多人在进行激素替代疗法的时候还没有更年期症状。

\"In recent years there has been reanalysis of WHI findings that have shown that the increased risks associated with the older women, as described in this study, were not consistently shared by the younger women who participated in the study,\" said Wyeth's chief medical officer Gary Stiles.
Wyeth公司首席医务官Gary Stiles说：“近年来，对WHI研究重新分析，结果显示，虽然在年纪大的女性中患病风险增加，但参与研究的年轻女性中，患病风险并不是同年老女性一样的增加。”