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But then the daily combined drug was thought more convenient because patients did not have to remember which days to take a second pill and because it eliminated a monthly menstrual period.

The researcher believes the results might have been different if a different form of estrogen that resembled a normal cycle had been used.

Even at the time many doctors considered the WHI study flawed in that the participants were almost all over 60 and so at greater risk of cardiovascular problems anyway.

Klaiber says the incidence of heart disease is 12 times higher for women in their 80s than it is in the 50s.

Therefore the WHI study began hormone therapy for the first time in women who already had heart disease - not a good idea.

Klaiber maintains that earlier studies showing that cyclical hormones are protective against heart disease are probably quite valid.

As he says one of the reasons menopausal women were given hormones was because of the gender differential, men have a lot more heart attacks and have them earlier.

Klaiber is optimistic that a multi-center trial launched last year by the Pho...

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