NONRESPONDERS TO HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY FOR THE PREVENTION OF POSTMENOPAUSAL BONE LOSS - DO THEY EXIST

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prevents postmenopausal bone loss, b ut the prevalence of non-responders in healthy early postmenopausal wo men is not known. In order to study this, we reviewed data from three published studies, each carried out in a randomized, placebo-controlle d, longitudinal design over 2 year, that used seven hormone replacemen t therapies. Bone mineral content (BMC) was measured in the distal for earm by single photon absorptiometry. A mathematical model for elimina tion of measurement errors was applied to published BMC data. After th is correction, we found that only 1.2% of early healthy postmenopausal women who are receiving HRT in conventional doses will lose more than 1% of forearm BMC per year. In conclusion, most, if not all, healthy early postmenopausal women who might need HRT against loss of bone wil l respond positively in forearm BMC to such therapy.