Estrogen plus progestin not helpful to quality of life, new national study shows.

2003 APR 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Taking a combination of the hormones estrogen and progestin does not improve the quality of life for women who are free of menopause-related symptoms, but does expose them to a slightly higher risk of heart attacks, strokes, and breast cancer, a new multicenter national study concludes. For that reason, medical scientists now recommend against the combined therapy in the absence of such symptoms.

The latest findings from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study, to be reported in the May 8, 2003, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, were released March 17 because of the important clinical implications.

Dr. Jennifer Hays of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston was first author of the report, which involved scores of top researchers.

"The strength of this finding is not only the large number of study participants - 16,608 postmenopausal women 50-79 years old - but also that they were randomly assigned to receive daily estrogen plus progestin or placebo," said Dr. Gerardo Heiss, professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.

After a year, participants were asked about their general health, the limitations they experienced as a result of physical or emotional health problems and also about their energy, social functioning, memory, sleep disturbances and sexual functioning, said Heiss, a member of the study's steering committee.

Last summer, he and colleagues, including Drs. Ellen Wells and David Ontjes of the UNC School of Medicine, collaborated on a paper showing the two hormones together boosted slightly the risk of breast cancer, heart attacks and stroke, while showing somewhat beneficial effects on the risk of colon cancer and hip fractures. An independent data

and safety monitoring board halted that study early since the risks exceeded the benefits.