What was once only whispered about in ladies rooms is now cover story material in news rooms: hot flashes are news flashes as 4,000 American women enter menopause each day. But doesn't it seem that every week there's a new study on hormone replacement therapy-often with confusing results?

The latest came from a National Institutes of Health report about the first two years of the Women's Health Initiative. They found a "small increase in the number of heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots" in women taking hormones compared with those who were not. News on this issue generally stopped there-many women panicked and stopped taking their hormones without even calling their doctors. Doctors were also confused: this information has not been published in a medical journal and the study is far from complete.

In fact, NIH leaders reassured women that it is safe to continue the study and that it is safe to continue taking their hormones. The early differences decreased to the point where they were not statistically significant, which means there wasn't really a difference after all. This is Dr. Donnica Moore giving you the medical facts behind the medical headlines.

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Created: 9/28/2000  -  Donnica Moore, M.D.