Study advises low-dose hormones

STANFORD, Calif., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers are calling on doctors to prescribe low-dose -- rather than high-dose -- hormone therapy for menopausal women.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California say doctors across the United States are still giving menopausal patients higher-dose hormone therapy despite evidence low dose therapy works just as well and has fewer risks.

The study, published online in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society, indicates that as of 2009, physicians' practices have not kept up with clinical evidence and U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendations about lower hormone doses.

"We're disappointed," study senior author Dr. Randall Stafford says in a statement. "Yes, there was an increase in the use of low-dose preparations, but it was not sizeable."

Stafford and colleagues analyzed survey data collected from physicians from 2001 to 2009 by the IMS National Disease and Therapeutic Index -- a commercial data source that reflects prescriptions issued as a result of outpatient visits to a physician.