Women's Health Issues
Volume 14, Issue 6 , Pages 212-219 , November 2004

Hormones, menopause, and heart disease: Making sense of the Women’s Health Initiative

  • Paula S. Derry, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Independent Practice, Health Psychology, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: Paula S. Derry, PhD, 4811 Crowson Ave., Baltimore, MD 21212.

Received 23 March 2004 ,Revised 30 June 2004 ,Accepted 15 July 2004.

References 

  1. American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology . Questions and answers about hormone replacement therapy . 2002; Available: http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases /nr08-30-02.cfm. Accessed October 1, 2002.
  2. Alexander K , Newby L , Hellkamp A , Harrington R , Peterson E , Kopecky S , et al.   Initiation of hormone replacement therapy after acute myocardial infarction is associated with more cardiac events during follow-up . Journal of the American College of Cardiology . 2001;38:1–7
  3. American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines . ACC/AHA guidelines for the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction . 1999; Available: http://www.acc.org/clinical/guidelines/nov96/edits/jac1716pVIa.htm. Accessed August 29, 1999.
  4. Angell M . Medicine in the noise age: What can we believe? Keynote address . Third national conference on the business of human experiments (Ethical, legal, and regulatory issues) . 2002; November 3–5, 2000. Baltimore, MD
  5. Barrett-Connor E . Postmenopausal estrogen and prevention bias . Annals of Internal Medicine . 1991;115:455–456
  6. Barrett-Connor E , Grady D . Hormone replacement therapy, heart disease, and other considerations . Annual Review of Public Health . 1998;19:55–72
  7. Barrett-Connor E , Stuenkel C . Hormones and heart disease in women (heart and estrogen/progestin replacement study in perspective) . Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism . 1999;84:1848–1853
  8. Bodenheimer T . Clinical investigators and the pharmaceutical industry . New England Journal of Medicine . 2000;342:1539–1544 Uneasy alliance
  9. Chlebowski R , Hendrix S , Langer R , Stefanick M , Gass M , Lane D , et al.   Influence of estrogen plus progestin on breast cancer and mammography in healthy postmenopausal women . Journal of the American Medical Association . 2003;289:3243–3253
  10. Coney S . The menopause industry . Alameda, CA: Hunter House; 1994;
  11. Derry PS . Time trends in the HERS secondary prevention trial (much ado about nothing) . Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association . 2002;57:215–216
  12. Derry PS . Why do professionals disagree? The case of hormone replacement therapy and coronary heart disease prevention . Women and Health . 2003;38:3–18
  13. Federal Register . Food and Drug Administration Draft guidance for clinical evaluation of combination estrogen/progestin-containing drug products . 2002;Vol. 68: January 31, 2002.
  14. Fletcher R , Colditz G . Failure of estrogen plus progestin therapy for prevention . Journal of the American Medical Association . 2002;288:366–367
  15. Food and Drug Administration . Menopause and hormones . 2003; Available: http://www.fda.gov/womens/menopause/mht-FS.html. Accessed September 10, 2003.
  16. Genazzani A . HERS and WHI (unsuitable selection of study population) . Maturitas . 2003;44:11–12
  17. Grady D , Herrington D , Bittner V , Blumenthal R , Davidson M , Hlatsky M , et al.   Cardiovascular disease outcomes during 6.8 years of hormone therapy . Journal of the American Medical Association . 2002;288: 49–47
  18. Grodstein F , Stampfer M . The cardioprotective effects of estrogens . In:  Studd J editors. The management of the menopause . New York: Parthenon; 1998;p. 211–219
  19. Grodstein F , Stampfer M , Manson J , Colditz G , Willet W , Rosner B , et al.   Postmenopausal estrogen and progestin use and the risk of cardiovascular disease . New England Journal of Medicine . 1996;335: 453–451
  20. Healy B . Hormones of choice . 2002; Available: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/021028/health/28healy.com. Accessed October 22, 2002.
  21. Herrington D . Sex hormones and normal cardiovascular physiology in women . In:  Julian D ,  Wenger N editor. Women and heart disease . London: Martin Dunitz; 1997;p. 243–264
  22. Herrington D , Reboussin D , Brosnihan B , Sharp P , Shumaker S , Snyder T . Effects of estrogen replacement in the progression of coronary-artery atherosclerosis . New England Journal of Medicine . 2000;343:522–529
  23. Hu F , Stampfer M , Manson J , Grodstein F , Colditz G , Speizer F , et al.   Trends in the incidence of coronary heart disease and changes in diet and lifestyle in women . New England Journal of Medicine . 2000;343:530–537
  24. Hulley S , Grady D , Bush T , Furberg C , Herrington D , Riggs B , et al.   Randomized trial of estrogen plus progestin for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in postmenopausal women . Journal of the American Medical Association . 1998;280:605–613
  25. Hulley S , Grady D , Vittinghoff E , Bush T , Furberg C , Riggs B . Hormone replacement therapy for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (letter) . Journal of the American Medical Association . 1999;281:797
  26. Kolata G , Peterson M . Hormone replacement study a shock to the medical system . New York Times . 2002; Health Section. July 10, 2002. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/10/health/10HORM.html. Accessed July 14, 2002.
  27. Manson J , Hsia J , Johnson K , Rossouw J , Assaf A , Lasser N , et al.   Estrogen plus progestin and the risk of coronary heart disease . New England Journal of Medicine . 2003;349:523–534
  28. Nabel E . Coronary heart disease in women—an ounce of prevention . New England Journal of Medicine . 2000;343:572–574
  29. National Committee for Quality Assurance . HEDIS 2001 (Specifications for survey measures) . Washington, DC: National Committee for Quality Assurance; 2001;
  30. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute . Women’s health and menopause (a comprehensive approach) . 2002; Bethesda, MD: Author. (2002, March)
  31. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences . Report on Carcinogens, Tenth Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program . 2002; December 2002. Available: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/roc/tenth/profiles/s084ster.pdf. Accessed June 27, 2004.
  32. National Institutes of Health . Scientific workshop on menopausal hormone therapy . 2002; October 23–24, 2002, Bethesda, MD.
  33. New York Times . Predicting heart attacks . 2002; Editorial, November 17, 2002. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/opinion/17SUN2.html. Accessed November 17, 2002.
  34. Notelovitz M . Why individualizing hormone therapy is crucial . Medscape Women’s Health eJournal . 2002;Vol. 7: Available: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/438356. Accessed July 14, 2002.
  35. O’Grady K . The medicalization of menopause . 2002; The Halifax Herald, August 1, 2002. Available: http://www.halifaxherald.com/stories/2002/08/01/f191.raw.html. Accessed October 19, 2002.
  36. Shojania K , Mariani S , Lundberg G . MedGenMed’s selection of the top 10 medical/health stores of 2002 . 2002; Available: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/446310. Accessed December 24, 2002.
  37. Snyder U . harvesting controversies for women and society . 2002; September 2002 Available: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/441028. Accessed September 16, 2002.
  38. Speroff L . A clinician’s medical judgment . Maturitas . 2003;44:14–16
  39. Stampfer M , Colditz G , Willett W , Manson J , Rosner B , Speizer F , et al.   Postmenopausal estrogen therapy and cardiovascular disease . New England Journal of Medicine . 1991;325:756–762
  40. Voda A . Menopause (a normal view) . Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology . 1992;35:923–933
  41. Walsh B , Schiff I . Menopause (advanced management strategies) . Current Opinions in Obstetrics and Gynecology . 1991;3:343–351
  42. Women’s Health Initiative . WHI HRT update . 2000; Available: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/HRT update2000en.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2002.
  43. Women’s Health Initiative . WHI HRT update . 2001; Available: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/HRTUpdate2001.pdf. Accessed June 1, 2002.
  44. Women’s Health Initiative Steering Committee . Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy (The Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial) . Journal of the American Medical Association . 2004;291:1701–1712
  45. Writing Group for the PEPI Trial . Effects of estrogen or estrogen/progestin regimens on heart disease risk factors in postmenopausal women . Journal of the American Medical Association . 1995;273:199–208
  46. Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators . Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women (principal results from the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial) . Journal of the American Medical Association . 2002;288:321–333

PII: S1049-3867(04)00069-6

doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2004.07.004

Women's Health Issues
Volume 14, Issue 6 , Pages 212-219 , November 2004