Why Was The Women's Health Initiative WHI Study Researching The Effects Of Menopausal Hormone Therapy MHT Discontinued?
After the July 2002 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial announcement that estrogen-progestin therapy was being halted prematurely due to safety concerns, prevalence of prescription menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) declined dramatically.
How has the use of menopausal hormone therapy changed since the women's health Initiative study?
Instead, the Women's Health Initiative study found that taking estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy — HRT — actually increased a woman's risk of heart disease and breast cancer. The study had a huge effect: Within months the number of women using HRT dropped by almost half.
The Last Word On Hormone Therapy From the Women's Health Initiative ...
What are the benefits and risks of MHT?
MHT prevents bone loss and therefore the risk of fragility fracture, an effect that continues after treatment is stopped. Oestrogen alone is associated with reduced heart disease risk, while oestrogen plus progestogen also lowers the risk of colon and uterine cancer.
Making sense of menopausal hormone therapy means ...
The Women's Health Initiative (WHI), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), is a long-term national health study that focuses on strategies for preventing heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
Women's Health Initiative (WHI) | NHLBI, NIH
Why was the WHI study terminated early?
One treatment-arm of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study was recently terminated because the overall risks of hormone treatment were considered to outweigh the benefits. The main findings were an increased risk of venous thromboembolism and a decreased risk of osteoporotic fractures with treatment.
[After the early termination of the Women's Health Initiative study ...