New results from the Women's Health Initiative study indicate hormone therapy among younger women may help reduce one risk factor in heart disease. But researchers say the benefits are unclear. KPBS reporter Kenny Goldberg has more.
The study examined the effects of estrogen therapy on women ages 50 to 59 who've had a hysterectomy. It found women who took the hormone had lower levels of plaque in their arteries than women who took a placebo.
UCSD's Dr. Matt Allison is the study's co-author. He says a woman who has less disease in her arteries than one of her peers may have a lower risk of heart attack.
Allison : But again that's theoretical. There's a number of considerations other than just the amount of disease in the arteries that could lead somebody to have say, a heart attack, that need to be considered.
Allison says a brief course of hormone therapy may be appropriate for relieving menopausal symptoms. He says it should not be used to prevent heart disease.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
