This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (7)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related letters  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Women's Health  • Women's Health, Other  • Cardiovascular Disease/ Myocardial Infarction  • Alert me on articles by topic

Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:479-481.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Two recent trials of the efficacy of hormone therapy (HT) have challenged our understanding of the influence of menopause and the alleged protective role of estrogen against atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.^1-2 Let us consider the background of evidence that necessitated these landmark studies to better interpret their unexpected findings. In the United States and Europe cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women as well as men. In women participating in the Framingham Study, the lifetime risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) is 32%, a risk 3 times that of breast cancer, which women fear more.³

In 1985 Wilson et al¹¹ reported an observational study of the effect of estrogen use on morbidity and mortality from CVD in a Framingham Study sample of 1234 postmenopausal women aged from 50 to 80 years. Despite control for the major CVD risk factors, and a more favorable risk profile to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

William B. Kannel, MD
Framingham

Daniel Levy, MD
Framingham Heart Study
73 Mt Wayte Ave
Framingham, MA 01702

RELATED LETTERS

Cardiovascular Protection in Premenopausal Women
Luca Mascitelli and Francesca Pezzetta
Arch Intern Med. 2005;165(1):120.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Menstruation and Cardiovascular Vulnerability
Martin Terplan
Arch Intern Med. 2005;165(1):120.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

Evaluation of Cardiovascular Event Rates With Hormone Therapy in Healthy, Early Postmenopausal Women: Results From 2 Large Clinical Trials
Rogerio A. Lobo
Arch Intern Med. 2004;164(5):482-484.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Risk factors for myocardial infarction in women and men: insights from the INTERHEART study
Anand et al.
Eur Heart J 2008;29:932-940.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The neurovascular dysfunction induced by angiotensin II in the mouse neocortex is sexually dimorphic
Girouard et al.
Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. 2008;294:H156-H163.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Estrogen Treatment Abrogates Neointima Formation in Human C-Reactive Protein Transgenic Mice
Wang et al.
Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 2005;25:2094-2099.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cardiovascular Protection in Premenopausal Women
Mascitelli and Pezzetta
Arch Intern Med 2005;165:120-120.
FULL TEXT  

Menstruation and Cardiovascular Vulnerability
Terplan
Arch Intern Med 2005;165:120-120.
FULL TEXT