Research

Hormonal

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen plus progestin in postmenopausal women increases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism without improving cardiovascular outcomes.

If you are a postmenopausal woman considering hormone replacement therapy, understand that current evidence suggests it does not prevent heart disease and may actually increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots. It should only be used to manage severe menopausal symptoms for the shortest duration possible, after a thorough discussion of risks with your doctor.

StrongRefutesHIGH confidence
The combined oestrogen and progestin component of the WHI was stopped early, as women taking hormonal therapy were determined to have an excessive risk of breast cancer... risks of coronary heart disease, stroke and pulmonary embolism were significantly increased in the oestrogen + progestin group.
HS Chahal et al. · The Journal of Pathology · 2007

Why this rating

Based on the Women's Health Initiative, a major randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Source

The endocrine system and ageing

HS Chahal et al. · The Journal of Pathology · 2007

DOI 10.1002/path.2110

narrative_reviewCited 313×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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