Source: Atherosclerosis  |  Posted 11 years ago

Postmenopausal hormone use appears to decrease risk for major coronary events in women without previous heart disease.

Furthermore, 0.3 mg of oral conjugated estrogen daily is linked with a reduction similar to that seen with standard dose of 0.625 mg.

At the same time, however, 0.625 mg or more - and in combination with progestin - may increase stroke risk, a large study found.

Scientists at the Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, carried out this prospective observational cohort study.

The objective was to investigate duration, dose and type of postmenopausal hormone therapy and primary prevention of cardiovascular (CV) disease. The setting was the Nurses' Health Study, with follow-up from 1976 to 1996.

Participants were 70,533 postmenopausal women, in whom 1,258 major coronary events (non-fatal myocardial infarction or fatal coronary disease) and 767 strokes were identified.

When all cardiovascular risk factors were taken into account, the risk for major coronary events was lower among current users of hormone therapy, including short-term users, than among never users.

Among women taking oral conjugated estrogen, risk for coronary events was similarly reduced with 0.625 mg daily and 0.3 mg daily compared with never users.

However, stroke risk was significantly increased among women taking 0.625 mg or more of oral conjugated estrogen daily and those taking estrogen plus progestin.

Overall, these researchers observed little relation between combination hormone therapy and risk for cardiovascular disease (major coronary heart disease plus stroke).