Lingering Questions About Hormone Therapy

Patient age and the timing of therapy initiation might affect the coronary risk associated with HT use.

Data from the HERS trial (Journal Watch Jul 26 2002) and from the Women’s Health Initiative combination-therapy (Journal Watch Jul 26 2002) and estrogen-only (Journal Watch Apr 27 2004) arms have shown that hormone therapy (HT) increases risk for cardiovascular events, including stroke, in postmenopausal women. However, a new report from the WHI and another from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) suggest that patient age and the timing of therapy initiation can influence HT’s effect specifically on coronary events.

One report presents 7-year coronary outcomes data from the WHI’s estrogen-only arm, in which 10,739 postmenopausal women (age range, 50–79) with hysterectomies had been randomized to receive conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) or placebo…

Reviewing Author

JoAnne M. Foody, MD, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT