Misinterpretation of WHI results decreased use of hormones, even in women not at risk

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) led to many women needlessly abandoning a treatment that offered symptomatic relief for symptoms of the menopause according to a new study.  In the aftermath of the 2002 WHI announcement that oestrogen-progestin therapy was being halted prematurely because of safety concerns, the prevalence of prescription hormone therapy (HT) declined immediately and still today is lower than pre-WHI levels. According to a new study in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) that analysed more than 17 years of data from the 3,018 participants in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), HT initiation