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After HRT, Some Health Risks Remain

By Kathleen Doheny

Pharmaceutical Company Views
The hormone regimen used in the WHI study is quite different than the typical regimen prescribed these days, according to representatives speaking at a teleconference sponsored by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which makes the HRT used in the WHI study. The typical duration of treatment has declined, according to Wyeth, and the doses are typically lower than those used in WHI.

Currently, HRT is prescribed to women younger than those in the WHI study, according to Wyeth. The average age of WHI participants was 63 at the start of the study. The risks associated with older women are not the same as in younger women, according to Gary Stiles, MD, chief medical officer and executive vice president of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Philadelphia.

The study results, according to Wyeth, should be reassuring to women who use hormone therapy during the "hard" stages of menopause, when symptoms are most bothersome.  


Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD.

SOURCE: Gerardo Heiss, MD, professor of epidemiology, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill. Rowan T.Chlebowski, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Los Angeles. James Liu, MD, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology, MacDonald Women's Hospital, Case Medical Center, University Hospitals, Cleveland. Heiss, G. TheJournal of the American Medical Association, March 5, 2008: vol 299: pp1036-1045. Gary L. Stiles, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. © 2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.