The other shoe drops on estrogen

After seven years of follow-up, the National Institutes of Health has stopped the estrogen-only arm of the Women’s Health Initiative study one year early. The study was stopped because so far it has found no effect on heart disease and a slight increased risk of stroke in women who've had hysterectomies and take estrogen.

"The NIH believes that an increased risk of stroke is not acceptable in healthy women in a research study. This is especially true if estrogen alone does not affect (either increase or decrease) heart disease, as appears to be the case in the current study," says a statement released today by Dr. Barbara Alving, Director of the Women’s Health Initiative.

In July 2002, the NIH halted the estrogen-progestin arm of the study. The combination hormone therapy was found to increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, blood clots and breast cancer.