What is the purpose of the WHI study on combination hormone therapy?
A. The long-term studies in the WHI were initiated because over the years a number of research studies presented a complicated picture of the risks and benefits of hormone therapy, and its continued use for prevention of cardiovascular diseases was controversial. This situation led the NIH to conduct a large clinical trial of the risks and benefits of hormone therapy. The WHI set out to examine the long-term effect of estrogen plus progestin on the prevention of heart disease and hip fractures, while monitoring for possible increases in risk for breast and colon cancer. The estrogen plus progestin regimen was given to women who have a uterus since progestin is known to protect against endometrial cancer, a known effect of unopposed estrogen. A separate study of estrogen alone in women who had a hysterectomy was also begun.
Related Questions
- Dear Marla: Since the WHI study, there has been a lot of talk about \individualized\ hormone therapy. What does that mean?
- What did the Womens Health Initiative (WHI) reveal about the risks of menopausal hormone therapy (HT)?
- What is the purpose of evaluating VX-770 and VX-809 as a combination therapy?
