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SMJ // Article

Invited Commentary

Commentary on "Menopausal Hormone Treatment in Postmenopausal Women: Risks and Benefits"

Authors: David F. Archer, MD

Abstract

In this issue of the Southern Medical Journal, Dous and colleagues present the course of events before and since the 2002 publication of the results of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled intervention of conjugated estrogen and medroxyprogesterone acetate in postmenopausal women.1,2 Menopausal hormone treament (MHT) using either estrogen alone or estrogen plus a progestin has undergone dramatic shifts in use by consumers and physicians based on the media reports of the WHI outcomes.3,4 The initial report indicated an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but this was subsequently refuted in a second publication in 2003. By 2007, studies stratifying by age and years since menopause again indicated no increased risk of CHD in younger women.5,6

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