BREAKING Israel kills top Hezbollah figure in Beirut strike, Reuters sources say
Top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, two security sources told Reuters.
Women often use hormone therapy to relieve hot flashes and other menopause symptoms -- and new research suggests patches or creams may be safer for their blood pressure than pills.
As women's bodies produce lower levels of reproductive hormones during menopause their risk for heart disease rises. High blood pressure further increases that risk -- but it's not clear whether there's a link with hormone therapy for menopause symptoms.
Canadian researchers wondered if the way hormones are absorbed -- orally, vaginally or through the skin -- could play a role.
The University of Calgary team examined health records of more than 112,000 women ages 45 and older who filled prescriptions for at least six months' worth of estrogen-only hormone treatment between 2008 and 2019. They tracked which women went on to develop high blood pressure at least a year after starting treatment.
While the differences weren't huge, women who took estrogen pills had a 14% higher risk of developing hypertension compared to those using skin patches or creams, the researchers reported Monday. Oral estrogen carried a 19% greater risk than vaginal versions.
The findings were published in the journal Hypertension.
Hormone therapy has a mix of risks and benefits that mean it's not for everyone. Today it's prescribed not to prevent disease but to relieve menopause-related symptoms -- generally using the lowest possible dose for the shortest time. Most commonly used are combination pills of estrogen and another hormone, progestin. (Estrogen-only pills typically are prescribed to women without a uterus.)
Different versions of hormone therapy may work better for different menopause symptoms, something the study didn't address.
But it adds important clues to understanding the complex relationship between hormone therapy and blood pressure, said Dr. Garima Sharma, a women's heart specialist with Virginia's Inova Health System and the American Heart Association.
Sharma would like to see a more rigorous trial that compares different hormone versions. But she pointed to a possible biological explanation: Maybe oral estrogen affects enzymes linked to blood pressure as it's being processed, while skin and vaginal versions have much more limited activity in the body.
Still, "these findings are very clinically relevant," Sharma said in an an email, and suggest it's especially important to monitor blood pressure in women who use oral hormone therapy.
------
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content
Top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, two security sources told Reuters.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
Smoke is rising over Lebanon’s capital of Beirut Friday after Israel’s military struck southern suburbs – a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.
A paid passenger on an expedition to the Titanic with the company that owned the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel Friday that the mission he took part in was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure.
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.