Monday, 12 November 2007
There is little benefit and high health risk with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to an American longitudinal study of the controversial treatment.

Dr Karen Ritchie, research director with the French National Institute of Medical Research, will examine the case for and against the prescribing of HRT in a free public lecture titled, HRT – Should We or Shouldn’t We?, in UWA’s Social Science Lecture Theatre at 6pm on Monday, November 19.

Studies of HRT have focussed on the reduction of menopausal symptoms and cognitive dysfunction, according to Dr Ritchie. Yet, although many women cite improvement in well-being as their main reason for maintaining HRT, little attention has been paid by researchers into psychiatric and cognitive disorders.

More recent research on the impact of hormonal functioning on mental health throughout a woman’s life will be examined in the lecture. Dr Ritchie reviews the potential value of HRT treatments in the light of the normal endogenous endocrine fluctuations which occur during the menstrual cycle, in pregnancy and during the peri-menopause.

A neuro-psychologist and epidemiologist who began her career with the Health Services Evaluation Unit at Oxford University, Dr Ritchie has also worked with the Social Psychiatry Research Unit of the Australian Medical Research Council. She is a consultant to the Mental Health Division of the World Health Organisation and a member of the Advisory Committee on Women’s Health for the European Government.

Media references

Audrey Barton (Institute of Advanced Studies) 61 8 6488 1340

Simone Hewett / Sally-Ann Jones 61 8 6488 7977
(UWA Public Affairs) 0420 790 097 / 0420 790 098

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