Ladies, please note -- hormone replacement therapy might massively boost your sexual interest after menopause, but it can raise your risk of dying from lung cancer, say researchers.
An eight-year study of over 16,000 women, published in the latest edition of British medical journal 'Lancet', has revealed that the disease is more likely to be fatal if women take HRT than a dummy placebo pill.
The study, which involved patients using hormones to ease symptoms of the menopause, showed that women on HRT are no more likely to develop lung cancer -- but if they do, they are then more likely to die.
Lead researcher Dr Apar Kishor Ganti of University of Nebraska Medical Centre said the research showed HRT should probably be avoided for women at a high risk of lung cancer -- especially smokers.
"These results, along with the findings showing no protection against coronary heart disease, seriously question whether HRT has any role in medicine today," the 'Daily Mail' quoted him as saying.
But British experts challenged whether the findings were relevant here and stressed that lung cancer rates were relatively low, clearly saying, "there's no other alternative to HRT currently".
Professor Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist, said: "Women still need HRT and they like it because it makes them look and feel better.
There isn't currently an alternative, so they shouldn't stop taking it and doctors should not stop giving it out."
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