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The researchers then measured the amount of irreversible muscle damage that resulted after an experimentally produced heart attack.

The Femhrt group had 5 percent muscle damage, the group that didn't take hormone therapy had 20 percent damage, and the "We were very surprised," said Williams.

"The two progestins produced dramatically different results." The amount of heart muscle damage can affect risk of a future heart attack and risk of developing heart failure, the inability of the heart to meet the body's demands.

Williams said the results suggest that all hormone therapy drugs are not the same and that there may be better treatments than current formulations.

He said, however, that the results are too preliminary to apply to women.

Next, the researchers want to learn how estrogen alone - without a progestin - will affect the amount of muscle damage.

They also want to learn more about what caused the differences in muscle damage.

They suspect that it is related to the amount of inflammation that occurs after a heart attack.

They measured an enzyme that is a marker of whether white blood cells, which fight infection, ar...

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