“The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, or NHLBI”.¹

Date

What can it be important to be clear about with hormone therapy (HT) information?

It can be important to be clear about the date of all information including the date of HT information, because this information may have been updated.

Symptoms or Chronic Conditions

What can it also be important to be clear about with HT information?

It can also be important to be clear about whether HT information is about the use of HT for the management of menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness; or for the prevention of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, and osteoporotic fractures.

Women’s Health Initiative

What is the (United States) Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)?

In About WHI the WHI elaborate on:

“The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, or NHLBI. The original WHI study began in the early 1990s and concluded in 2005”.²

Goal

What is the goal of the WHI?

In Women’s Health Initiative (WHI): What Is the Goal of the WHI? the NHLBI explain:

“The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), is a long-term national health study that focuses on strategies for preventing heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. These chronic diseases are the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in older women of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds”.³

Original WHI Study

In the original WHI study, what were the three parts?

In Women’s Health Initiative (WHI): What Is the Goal of the WHI? the NHLBI explain:

“The original WHI study had three parts—a clinical trial, an observational study, and a community prevention study—and completed data collection in 2005”.⁴

Expectations

What did the WHI’s researchers expect to find in their two studies in the hormone trial?

On page one in the NAMS Journal Menopause Reflects on the WHI Ten Years Later the North American Menopause Society explain:

“Researchers expected to find that hormones prevented chronic conditions of aging in women, including heart disease. Instead, they found that hormones produced a mix of risks and benefits”.⁵

Heart Disease

What did the WHI find about hormone replacement therapy and heart disease?

In Women’s Health Initiative (WHI): At A Glance the NHLBI note:

Extension Studies

What are the WHI’s extension studies?

In About WHI the WHI explain:

“Since 2005, the WHI has continued as Extension Studies, which are annual collections of health updates and outcomes in active participants. The second Extension Study enrolled 93,500 women in 2010 and follow-up of these women continues through another extension that will conclude in 2020. NHLBI intends to fund the next Extension Study for the follow-up of WHI participants through 2027”.⁷

Extension Studies Main Areas of Research

What are the extension studies main areas of research?

In About WHI the WHI elaborate on:

“As with the original WHI study, the main areas of research are cardiovascular disease, cancers, and osteoporotic fractures. While WHI continues to focus on strategies to prevent the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in older women, the breadth and richness of the WHI data allow for the exploration and investigation of many more research questions on women’s health and aging”.⁸

Health Care Provider

What if I choose to use menopausal hormone therapy (MHT)?

If you choose to use MHT, it may be in your best interest to also choose to talk to your health care provider about this.

One of the points of consensus in the Revised Global Consensus Statement on Menopausal Hormone Therapy: Section A: Benefit/Risk Profile of MHT – endorsed by seven menopause-related organizations – published online 20 June 2016, is:

Health Topics A-Z

Where may I find Health Topics related to the Women’s Health Initiative?

In Health Topics A-Z you may find:

Links

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Sources

Where may I find the Sources quoted?

You may find the Sources quoted at:

Topic Last Updated: 07 September 2021 – Topic Last Reviewed: 12 August 2021