ABSTRACT
HDL levels seen with combined therapy had
The ability of oral oestrogen to lower LDL
levels, even against the background of a low-fat
diet,53 raises the issue of their use in
hypercholesterolaemia. Following initially
promising results, various double-blind
comparative studies with conventional lipid-
lowering drugs have now been completed. In
general, these show that oral HRT on its own
rarely achieves the LDL cholesterol target levels
defined by national policies but, as would be
predicted, has useful effects on HDL and Lp(a)
which may be matched by potentially unwanted
increases in fasting triglycerides.54,55 The
influence on postprandial lipaemia (see above)
needs to be considered.
