A recent report has suggested that the use of estrogen therapy is linked with an increased risk of developing kidney stones in women who are in the postmenopausal stage.

Keeping the data from the national Women’s Health Initiative study, Naim M. Maalouf, from the University of Texas Southweatern Medical Center, Dallas, analyzed data from two trials: One had 10,739 menopausal women with hysterectomy who got either an estrogen treatment only or matching placebo and the second was 16,608 postmenopausal women without hysterectomy who got either an estrogen plus progestin treatment or matching placebo.

The data was then collected for an average of 7.1 years in the estrogen-only trial and 5.6 years for the estrogen plus progestin trial.

The authors conclude that their results “indicate that estrogen therapy increases the risk of nephrolithiasis in healthy postmenopausal women. The mechanisms underlying this higher propensity remain to be determined. In view of the sizable prevalence of nephrolithiasis in this segment of the population, these findings need to be considered in the decision-making process regarding postmenopausal estrogen use.”