News Review From Harvard Medical School — Study: Early Hormone Therapy OK for Heart

July 30, 2014

News Review From Harvard Medical School -- Study: Early Hormone Therapy OK for Heart

Short-term hormone therapy for menopause symptoms is unlikely to harm the heart, a new study suggests. An earlier, large-scale study linked hormone replacement therapy with higher risks of heart disease and stroke. But the women in that study were well past the age of menopause. The new study included 727 women, ages 42 to 58. They were no more than 3 years past menopause. All were at low risk of heart disease. The women were randomly divided into 3 groups. One group took pills containing low doses of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Another group took progesterone pills and wore estrogen skin patches. The third group received placebo patches and pills. They contained no hormones. Everyone had ultrasound tests to show the thickness of artery walls in the neck. Another test looked at new calcium deposits in arteries around the heart. These are tests for atherosclerosis, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. After four years, researchers did the same tests again. Increases in artery thickness and calcium deposits were about the same for all three groups. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it July 28.

By Howard LeWine, M.D.Harvard Medical School

What Is the Doctor's Reaction?

Until 12 years ago, doctors often prescribed hormone therapy for women after menopause. This treatment included estrogen. It was sometimes combined with progesterone. Hormone therapy was, and still is, the most effective treatment for symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. We also believed that it decreased the risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia and osteoporosis.

That was before results of the landmark Women's Health Initiative study were released in 2002. They showed that taking estrogen and progesterone after menopause may increase women's risk of stroke, heart disease, blood clots and breast cancer. Hormone therapy does slow bone thinning. It decreases the risk of osteoporosis.

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News Review From Harvard Medical School -- Study: Early Hormone Therapy OK for Heart