Stroke Risk Declines After Cessation of HRT - National Stroke Association

Stroke Risk Declines After Cessation of HRT
Thursday, April 7, 2011
By: Eleanor McDermid

Eleanor McDermid

The increased risk for stroke among women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) dissipates soon after stopping treatment, shows follow-up of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

The WHI Estrogen-Alone Trial randomly assigned 10,739 postmenopausal women with prior hysterectomy to receive conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) or placebo. The trial was halted a year early, after an average of 7.1 years, because of a significantly increased risk for stroke and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) among estrogen users.

The present study, which appears in JAMA, followed-up the women for an average of 10.7 years after treatment initiation (about 4 years after HRT cessation).