Hormone Tx Tied to Reductions in Insulin Resistance

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Hormone therapy (HT) is associated with significantly reduced insulin resistance in healthy postmenopausal women, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Menopause Society, held from Sept. 10 to 14 in Chicago.

Tanya Li, from Reading Hospital Tower Health in West Reading, Pennsylvania, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify randomized controlled trials (1998 to 2024) that evaluated the effect of HT on insulin resistance, measured by the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), in postmenopausal women without diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular diseases.

Based on pooled data from 17 included trials (29,287 postmenopausal women), the researchers found the HOMA-IR was significantly reduced in women who received HT (overall effect: raw mean difference [RMD], −0.24; P < 0.001; I2 = 60.3 percent) compared with those who received placebo. The HOMA-IR was significantly reduced in both women who received estrogen alone (RMD = −0.42; P < 0.001) and those who received estrogen plus progestogen (RMD = −0.14; P = 0.005) versus those who received placebo.

“Our analysis showed that both types of hormone therapy, including oral and transdermal routes, significantly reduced insulin resistance in healthy postmenopausal women, although estrogen alone was associated with a more prominent reduction when compared to a combination hormone therapy,” lead researcher Xuezhi Jiang, M.D., also from Reading Hospital Tower Health, said in a statement.

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