Women report various symptoms after stopping hormo...( Over half of women who began menopausal...),Health

Recommended guidelines and prescribing practices for menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) have changed significantly since publication of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) estrogen plus progestin (E + P) trial findings that the overall health risks of taking conjugated equine estrogens and medroxyprogesterone acetate for disease prevention exceed the benefits, according to background information in the article. Women frequently cite relief from vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes or night sweats) and improvement in well-being as reasons for starting or continuing MHT. Current recommendations for MHT focus on treatment of symptoms at the lowest effective dosage for the shortest duration possible, yet there is little information about the effects of stopping MHT on either symptoms or health-related quality of life.

Judith K. Ockene, Ph.D., M.Ed., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Mass., and colleagues conducted a study to determine symptoms the WHI E + P trial participants experienced when they ceased hormone therapy. The study included a survey of 8,405 women at 40 clinical centers who were still taking study pills (conjugated equine estrogens and medroxyprogesterone [CEE + MPA] or placebo) when the estrogen plus progestin intervention (part of the WHI study) was stopped. Surveys were mailed 8 to 12 months after the stop date. The average age of the respondents at the end of the trial was 69.1 years. They averaged 5.7 years of taking study pills.

The researchers found that moderate or severe vasomotor symptoms after discontinuing study pill use were reported by 21.2 percent of former CEE + MPA and 4.8 percent of placebo group respondents overall and by 55.5 percent and 21.3 percent, respect
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Contact: Alison Duffy
508-856-2000
JAMA and Archives Journals
12-Jul-2005