Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease by Age and Years Since Menopause

WHI researchers have published a new analysis of the combined data from the two Hormone Trials to bring the effects by years since menopause into sharper focus. This combined analysis suggests that:

- Risk of heart attack from hormones may not be increased in women who start the hormones less than 10 years after menopause, but there is increasing risk in women who are more distant from menopause
- Risk of stroke from hormones does not depend on when a woman starts hormone therapy; strokes are increased regardless of years since menopause
- Risk of death from any cause appeared to be reduced in women who were 50-59 years at the time they started hormones in the two WHI trials

The increased risk of heart attack in older women appeared to be concentrated in a small percentage (12-17%) of women with persistent hot flashes or night sweats, in part because those women had more risk factors for heart disease (such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, and overweight). This increased risk of heart attack did not apply to younger women with hot flashes or night sweats