Health Risk to Older Women Is Seen in Hormone Therapy

A new analysis of combined data from two parts of a large federal study of hormone therapy has found that women in their 50s do not appear to have an increased heart attack risk if they take the drugs. But it also found that women in their 60s and 70s who still had hot flashes and night sweats were at increased risk for heart attacks, even if they were not taking hormones. And if these women took hormone therapy, their risk was higher still.
“The main indication now for hormone therapy is hot flashes and night sweats,” said Dr. Jacques Rossouw, a researcher for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute who directed the federal study, the Women’s Health Initiative. “This says that if you are older than 60, you should not take it.”