Heart disease risk factors and hormone use in postmenopausal women
E. Barrett-Connor, W. V. Brown, J. Turner, M. Austin and M. H. Criqui
A population of 1,496 women aged 55 to 74 years was studied for the
distribution of heart disease risk factors in the presence or absence of
postmenopausal estrogens. Current hormone use was reported by 39%. Hormone
users were significantly slimmer than nonusers at all ages. After
adjustment for the effect of obesity, hormone users had significantly lower
mean levels of plasma cholesterol and higher mean levels of plasma
triglycerides than nonusers. Blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose
concentration tended to be lower among hormone users, although the
differences were not statistically significant in all age groups. This
article discusses the theoretical implications of these observations for
cardiovascular disease mortality and contrasts them with the cancer risk of
postmenopausal estrogen use.
