Research

Hormonal

Hormone therapy increases the risk of stroke regardless of the time since menopause or the age of the woman.

Regardless of when you start hormone therapy, your risk of stroke increases. This risk is independent of your age or how long it has been since menopause. If you are considering hormone therapy, this increased stroke risk must be weighed against the potential benefits for menopausal symptoms and the potential CHD benefits (if starting early).

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Hormone therapy increased the risk of stroke (HR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.12-1.56). Risk did not vary significantly by age or time since menopause.
Jacques E. Rossouw et al. · JAMA · 2007

Why this rating

Consistent finding across combined trials with significant HR.

Source

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

Jacques E. Rossouw et al. · JAMA · 2007

DOI 10.1001/jama.297.13.1465

rct · n=27347Cited 1,715×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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