Another Study Sees Heart Risks in Hormone Replacement Therapy

The participants were followed for an average of one year.

Those women taking the combined hormone therapy had more major cardiovascular events -- angina, heart attack or sudden coronary death -- and blood clots, compared to women taking a placebo.

The incidence of stroke, cancer, fractures and overall deaths was not markedly different between the two groups.

Overall, the findings echo other recent research and confirm a role for hormone therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms in younger women.

"The doomsday statements from the WHI investigators in 2002 that women should get off hormones, that there was too high a risk, was a lot over the top," Utian said. "WHI was never a study about menopause. It was about whether hormones could prevent heart disease in older women."

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Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, director of midlife health at the University of Virginia Health Systems and a member of the board of trustees of NAMS, said, "This [new study] confirms in a small population what we found with the WHI. HRT for [heart disease] prevention is not effective or safe. We're feeling comfortable about using HRT for menopausal symptoms potentially up to 10 years from menopause, and otherwise we have to individualize it. There are both risks and benefits."

Recent research has found that hormones may have a role in preventing heart disease in younger women, but conclusive proof is still lacking.

"NAMS is saying that even though it seems that younger women may get some preventive effect, that should be taken as a reassurance but not as a single reason in itself to prescribe hormones," Utian said.

Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, "HRT in younger women is safe but has risks in older women. It goes back to the age question. All of this data is so important for us to understand."

More information

Visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for more on the Women's Health Initiative.