HRT Offers WomenCardiovascular Benefit

Hormone replacement therapy has beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors in postmenopausal women, according to the results of the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions (PEPI) Trial.

The three-year trial compared estrogen, three estrogen/progestogen combination regimens and placebo on cardiovascular disease risk in 875 healthy postmenopausal women.

Compared with placebo, all the active regimens led to potentially favorable increases in the mean level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol. HDL-C is believed to be a key predictor of coronary heart disease in women. The increase was greatest with estrogen alone. Active treatment had no detectable effect on blood pressure. The active regimens also decreased mean low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, a further anticipated beneficial effect.