In a study of perimenopausal and recently postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms, initiation of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) was associated with a 22% reduction in cardiovascular events.Notably, benefits were observed in those who initiated hormone therapy within 10 years of menopause onset and in Black women.The authors cautioned that given the lack of consistent cardiovascular benefit and the overall risk-benefit balance, the findings shouldn't be used to support the use of MHT for cardiovascular prevention.
Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) may have heart benefits for some women with vasomotor symptoms, though effects vary by timing of initiation and race, a target trial emulation of observational data suggested.
Among perimenopausal and recently postmenopausal women with no history of cardiovascular disease (CVD), initiation of MHT was associated with a 22% reduction in CVD events (adjusted HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.62-0.98), reported Samar El Khoudary, PhD, MPH, of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Public Health in Richmond, and co-authors.
Of note, those who initiated MHT within 10 years of menopause onset were estimated to have a 27% reduction in CVD risk (aHR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58-0.93), but there was no benefit when MHT was initiated more than 10 years after menopause onset (aHR 1.53, 95% CI 0.66-3.52), they wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine.
