CHICAGO — Kidney stones should be added to the list of health problems linked with hormone-pill use after menopause, according to an analysis of government research that first raised alarms about the products.
Among more than 24,000 postmenopausal women taking either hormones or dummy pills, those using hormones were 21 percent more likely to develop kidney stones over about five years.
Dr. Naim Maalouf, the study’s lead author, said women considering using hormones to ease hot flashes and other menopause symptoms should “look at the bigger picture,” weighing those benefits against the risks for kidney stones but also for more serious problems the pills have been linked with: breast cancers, heart attacks and strokes.
The study appeared in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine.
The Associated Press
