USPSTF Again Recommends Against Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy for Chronic Disease Prevention

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has updated its 2005 recommendations regarding postmenopausal hormone therapy. Once again, the task force issued grade “D” recommendations against both combined estrogen-progestin therapy (in women with intact uteri) and estrogen-only therapy (in women who have undergone hysterectomies) for chronic disease prevention. The recommendations are drawn largely from the best available evidence on this subject — the randomized Women's Health Initiative (WHI) studies, in which women received oral conjugated equine estrogen, with or without medroxyprogesterone acetate (JW Gen Med Jul 26 2002 and JW Gen Med Apr 27 2004). Task force findings for HT compared with placebo were as follows:

• With combined hor…