WHI Findings Published in JAMA Do Not Affect Clinical Guidance for the Appropriate Use of Hormo...( Hormone Therapy Remains an Importan...)

Hormone Therapy Remains an Important Option for Women Seeking Relief of

Menopausal Symptoms

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Observational follow-up data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provide little new insight into the appropriate use of hormone therapy when it is prescribed to symptomatic, newly menopausal women. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), believes that hormone therapy, when used appropriately, remains a good health care choice to relieve moderate to severe menopausal symptoms for millions of women seeking treatment.

"Health care professionals and women should be cautious about drawing generalized conclusions with regard to the benefits and risks of hormone therapy based upon an observational follow-up of the WHI. The WHI was conducted in older women and was designed to assess the risks and benefits of hormone therapy for the prevention of heart disease," says Gary L. Stiles, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

The women who participated in the WHI study were predominantly non-symptomatic and were on average 63 years of age, which is more than a decade past the average onset of menopause. In recent years, reanalysis of WHI findings has repeatedly shown that the risks associated with hormone therapy use in this older study population were not consistently shared across all outcomes by the younger subset of women who are more representative of a newly menopausal, hormone therapy user.

"Selectively releasing information contained in the WHI database, without providing the full context of the data assesse
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