WHI follow-up study: Risks of long-term hormone therapy continue to outweig...( New results from the Women's Health ...),Health

New results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) confirm that the health risks of long-term use of combination (estrogen plus progestin) hormone therapy in healthy, postmenopausal women persist even a few years after stopping the drugs and clearly outweigh the benefits. Researchers report that about three years after women stopped taking combination hormone therapy, many of the health effects of hormones such as increased risk of heart disease are diminished, but overall risks, including risks of stroke, blood clots, and cancer, remain high. The WHI is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Results of the WHI three-year follow-up study of the estrogen-plus-progestin clinical trial are published in the March 5, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The good news is that after women stop taking combination hormone therapy, their risk of heart disease appears to decrease," noted Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D., NHLBI director. "However, these findings also indicate that women who take estrogen plus progestin continue to be at increased risk of breast cancer, even years after stopping therapy. Today's report confirms the study's primary conclusion that combination hormone therapy should not be used to prevent disease in healthy, postmenopausal women."

The FDA recommends that hormone therapy never be used to prevent heart disease, and, when hormone therapy is used for menopausal symptoms, it should only be taken at the smallest dose and for the shortest time possible.

The new findings are from a follow-up study of 15,730 postmenopausal women with an intact uterus, ages 50 to 79 years (average age of 63) at enrollment, who participated in the WHI estrogen-plus-progestin clinical trial. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a combination of estrogen (0.625 milligrams of conjugated equine estrogens per day) plus progestin (2.5
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