Heart Risk Drops After Quitting Hormones

Increased heart risk among women who took hormones in a study faded in the three years after they quit, researchers say. The study of hormone use after menopause was halted in 2002. Women assigned to take hormones were told to quit because they showed a higher risk of heart disease and breast cancer than women who took fake pills. In the next two to three years, heart risk returned to normal, the new study found. But overall cancer risk was 24% higher than for women who took fake pills. The Associated Press wrote about the study March 5. It appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.