Further Evidence that Hormone Therapy Is Safe Soon After Menopause

Before the initial Women's Health Initiative (WHI) findings were published in 2002, many clinicians prescribed menopausal hormone therapy (HT) specifically to prevent coronary artery disease (CAD). In Finland, all deaths are recorded in a national register (with particular attention to accuracy regarding deaths thought to result from CAD), and all HT users since 1994 have been included in a national health insurance database, enabling rigorous study of HT use and CAD. As in many countries, use of HT in Finland plummeted in 2002. Researchers assessed use of systemic HT and CAD mortality before (1995–2001) and after (2002–2009) WHI publication in a total of >290,000 HT users compared with the background population matched for year and age.

Dur…