Form of Hormones Taken May Affect Risk

Hormones given in a patch or gel may be safer than pills for women’s hearts, a study suggests. Researchers used Danish databases of prescriptions and heart attacks. They looked at these numbers for 700,000 older women in the years 1995 to 2001. Overall, women who took female hormones had the same heart attack risk as women who didn’t take hormones. But the risk was 35% higher for those who took estrogen plus progestin in pill form. Researchers said hormone patches and gels may not affect clotting or inflammation in the same way as pills. USA Today wrote about the study October 1. It was published in the European Heart Journal.