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Summary On Women's Hormone Therapy Study
August 7, 2003

(The Associated Press) -- Here is a summary of major findings
by a government health study on women's hormone therapy
over the past year:

July 2002: Government-backed Women's Health Initiative
study of 16,608 women is halted because researchers
discover significant health risks for women taking
estrogen-progestin pills. Risk of heart disease is 29 percent
higher than expected. Breast cancer risk increases by 26
percent.

March 2003: Hormone replacement therapy fails to improve
older women's memory, sleeping or mental outlook, as many
had assumed.

May 2003: Those who took estrogen-progestin an average
of more than four years face double the risk of Alzheimer's or
other forms of dementia.

June 2003: Breast cancer linked to estrogen-progestin pills
may be fast-growing and hard to detect.

August 2003: The risk of heart attacks during the first year
on the pills is nearly double the expected rate. Risk is also
higher than expected for those with elevated levels of bad
cholesterol.

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/EMIHC267/333/24644/367822.html?d=dmtICNNews