World's biggest HRT study - $11 million to Adelaide

Associate Professor Alastair MacLennan.
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Tuesday, 6 March 2001

World's biggest HRT study - $11 million to Adelaide Adelaide University has been awarded the Australian arm of a major international study to examine the long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

The study is arguably the world's biggest and longest, stretching over 22 years and involving up to 36,000 women internationally.

The Medical Research Council in the UK has already awarded more than $1 million to the Adelaide research team, with a further $10 million to follow. The team is headed by Associate Professor Alastair MacLennan (Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology) and Professor John Marley (Department of General Practice).

The project, known as WISDOM (Women's International Study of long Duration Oestrogen after Menopause), will see the Adelaide team joining an international effort to study women aged 50 to 69. These women will receive 10 years of treatment and will be followed up for a further 10 years. All types of outcomes will be assessed, including quality of life, heart attacks, fractures, dementia, cancer and even death.

"Such a large trial is necessary to inform women throughout the world whether or not they should take long-term oestrogen replacement therapy after menopause," says Dr MacLennan.

"Although the benefits of postmenopausal HRT are well established in the short-term for the control of menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, there are no quality trials of the benefits and harms of long-term HRT."

The possible benefits of long-term HRT include the prevention of heart disease, osteoporosis, dementia, urogenital atrophy and some types of blindness, arthritis, skin disorders and even tooth loss. However, possible harms include increased rates of blood clotting disorders (thromboembolism), cancers and gall bladder disease.

"This will be a landmark trial in women's health, and Australia will make a major contribution to this international research having secured significant overseas funding," Dr MacLennan says.

Postmenopausal women aged 50 to 69 who are in participating general practices will be contacted over the next 18 months by their GP with the offer of further detailed information. Women interested in participating in the trial are urged not contact the researchers directly, but to speak to their GPs.

Photos available at: /pr/media/photos/2001/

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