TRANSDERMAL HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY AND SKIN IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN - A PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY

It has been shown that skin collagen decreases in the years after meno pause and that oral estrogen replacement therapy is effective in preve nting the loss of skin collagen content. Skin thickness, measured radi ologically, is a cheap, noninvasive measure of skin collagen content. We explored the effect of a transdermal therapeutic system delivering 50 mu g/day of 17 beta-estradiol plus sequential medroxyprogesterone a cetate 10 mg, in comparison with placebo, on skin thickness after chro nic administration to postmenopausal women. Forty postmenopausal women were randomly treated with transdermal estrogen or with placebo. Trea ted patients showed a statistically significant increase in skin thick ness after 1 year of study when compared with untreated women. Data co nfirm the negative effect of menopause on skin and show that transderm al estrogens are as effective as oral estrogens in preventing skin-thi ckness decrease.