Women using HRT at risk of hearing loss: Study finds

CAIRO – 12 May 2017: New clinical research suggests that women who take hormone pills to counteract menopausal symptoms are at risk of severe health problems that include potential hearing loss, according to an online medical report published by the North American Menopause Society. The research explains that the severity of the risks is directly proportional to the duration of hormone use. In addition, the research further states that women who undergo natural menopause at an older age are at greater risk.

This new research directly contradicts previous medical reports that had suggested that menopausal hormone pills taken for a prolonged time might slow age-related hearing loss which results from reduced estrogen levels. A hormone therapy system was prescribed for women to compensate for declined estrogen levels in late middle age.

The new research was a case study that examined the correlational links between menopausal status, oral hormone therapy, and risks of self-reported hearing loss in 80,972 women in Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. The examined women were analyzed from 1991-2013

NAMS executive director, Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, expressed surprise at the results “The finding from this observational study that women who underwent menopause at a later age and used oral hormone therapy had greater hearing loss was unexpected but should lead to more testing in a randomized, clinical trial.”

Sharon Curhan, researcher at the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also explained that “Many factors contribute to acquired hearing loss, including age, genetics, noise, medical conditions, diet and lifestyle factors”
More detailed aspects of the research findings were published online May 10th, 2017 in Menopause: the Journal of the North American Menopause Society.