Postmenopausal hormone therapy and mortality

Estrogen replacement therapy does not appear to significantly reduce mortality rates from heart disease in women who have a low risk of the disease. This is one of the conclusions of the Nurses' Health Study, which has followed 121,700 female nurses since 1976. By 1994, 3,637 had died. Those who used estrogen replacement therapy had a lower risk of death compared to those who never had. However, the increased risk of breast cancer in hormone users reduced that benefit over time. Hormone users with risk factors for heart disease benefitted the most, whereas those without risk factors benefitted little.