In the journals: Hormone therapy: Gallbladder risk is lower with a patch than a pill
In the journals
About half the women in the study took HT, either currently (32%) or in the past (18%). Of those, 77% took oral estrogen and 18% transdermal estrogen (5% used an implant or other form). Compared with women who had never taken HT, current users were 64% more likely to develop gallbladder disease. Past users had a 27% higher risk, suggesting that estrogen use may cause a lasting change in the gallbladder. Among oral HT users, the risk of gallstones was greater with higher doses, and greater with equine estrogens (Premarin, or, when combined with a progestin, Prempro) than with estradiol. Adding a progestin to estrogen did not appear to affect the risk. The surprise came when researchers compared women taking oral HT with those using transdermal HT: the rate of hospital admissions for gallbladder disease or surgery was about 55% lower among women using the transdermal form.
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