CONTEXT The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) previously found increased risk for dementia and no effect on mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in women treated with conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of CEE alone and CEE plus MPA on incidence of probable dementia and MCI in older women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND ...

In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial reported that combined estrogen-plus-progestin hormone therapy did not prevent coronary heart disease in women (1). Combined estrogen-plus-progestin therapy increased the risk of stroke by a factor of 1.4 on average and doubled the risk of venous thromboembolism. Observational research up to the time of the WHI suggested that the relat...

In women, medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is the most commonly used progestin component of hormone therapy (HT). In vitro, MPA negatively impacts markers of neuronal health and exacerbates experimentally-induced neurotoxicity. There is in vitro evidence that these factors are driven by GABAergic and neurotrophic systems. Whether these effects translate to a negative impact on brain function h...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is less prevalent in women versus men, but associated with higher risks of stroke and death in women. The role hormone therapy plays in AF is not well understood. METHODS AND RESULTS The Women's Health Initiative randomized postmenopausal women to placebo or conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg/d) plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (2.5 mg/d) if they had a u...

CONTEXT The effects of continuous combined hormone therapy on gynecologic cancers have not been investigated previously in a randomized trial setting. OBJECTIVE To determine the possible associations of estrogen plus progestin on gynecologic cancers and related diagnostic procedures. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 16 608 postmenopausa...

BACKGROUND Observational studies examining the role of estrogen in the risk of kidney stone formation have shown conflicting results. However, randomized trial evidence on nephrolithiasis risk with estrogen therapy in postmenopausal women is lacking. METHODS We reviewed the incidence of nephrolithiasis in the Women's Health Initiative estrogen-alone and estrogen plus progestin trials conducte...

OBJECTIVE To assess pair-wise differences between placebo, estrogen, and each of three estrogen-progestin regimens on selected symptoms. METHODS This was a 3-year, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 875 postmenopausal women aged 45-64 years at baseline. Participants were assigned randomly to one of five groups: 1) placebo, 2) daily conjugated equine estrogens, 3) conjugate...

Mammalian pregnancies need progestogenic support and birth requires progestin withdrawal. The absence of progesterone in pregnant mares, and the progestogenic bioactivity of 5α-dihydroprogesterone (DHP), led us to reexamine progestin withdrawal at foaling. Systemic pregnane concentrations (DHP, allopregnanolone, pregnenolone, 5α-pregnane-3β, 20α-diol (3β,20αDHP), 20α-hydroxy-5α-dihydroprogester...

Downlo ent clinical trials show that combined oral dosing with estrogen and progestin increases the inciof breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Similarly, in a rat model system of mammary carciesis, the synthetic progestin medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) decreases latency and increases nce of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)–induced mammary tumors. The goal of this was to compare the e...