Raloxifene reduces risk of stroke in postmenopausal women.

2002 DEC 19 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - New data on an osteoporosis drug marketed as an estrogen alternative - raloxifene (Evista) - indicate that it significantly reduces risk of stroke in postmenopausal women, according to new results released at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2002 in Chicago, Illinois.

Raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), has been studied from various angles in a study called Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation (MORE) by principal investigator Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, professor, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California - San Diego, San Diego, California.

"We decided to look within the MORE study at the women who either had heart disease or the women who were at high risk of heart disease by virtue of having comorbidities. Although this was a post hoc analysis, the criteria for being high risk had already been developed from another study of this drug - a study with heart disease as the primary outcome," Barrett-Connor said.

Barrett-Connor's presentation of "Raloxifene and risk of stroke among high-risk women in the Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation (MORE) randomized trial," came in a plenary session on "HRT and Cardiovascular Disease - Recent clinical trial results and their implications for clinical practice."

A previous study of the drug showed there was a 40% reduction in cardiovascular risk overall. Barrett-Connor said that this was a very pleasant surprise, but it was not good enough to recommend treatment with because it was a post hoc analysis. "It was very exiting that we had a drug that may have the benefits that we thought estrogen had and may not have the risks of cancer that we thought estrogen had," she added.

At the American Heart Association meeting, Barrett-Connor presented the additional data on stroke:

"The reduced risk of all ...