We found high quality evidence that hormone therapy in both primary and secondary prevention conferred no protective effects for all-cause mortality , cardiovascular death , non-fatal myocardial infa rct ion , angina , or revascularisation .
There was no strong evidence of effect on risk of stroke in this group .
Our review findings provide strong evidence that treatment with hormone therapy in post-menopausal women overall , for either primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease events has little if any benefit and causes an increase in the risk of stroke and venous thromboembolic events
BACKGROUND Evidence from systematic review s of observational studies suggests that hormone therapy may have beneficial effects in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease events in post-menopausal women , however the results of r and omised controlled trials ( RCTs ) have had mixed results .
This is an up date d version of a Cochrane review published in 2013 .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of hormone therapy for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women , and whether there are differential effects between use in primary or secondary prevention .
Secondary aims were to undertake exploratory analyses to ( i ) assess the impact of time since menopause that treatment was commenced ( ≥ 10 years versus < 10 years ) , and where these data were not available , use age of trial participants at baseline as a proxy ( ≥ 60 years of age versus < 60 years of age ) ; and ( ii ) assess the effects of length of time on treatment .
Prevention of femoral and lumbar bone loss with hormone replacement therapy and vitamin D3 in early postmenopausal women: a population-based 5-year randomized trial.
The long term effects of hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) and vitamin D3 ( Vit D ) on bone mineral density ( BMD ) were studied . A total of 464 nonosteoporotic early postmenopausal women from the Kuopio Osteoporosis Study ( n = 13100 ) were r and omized to four groups : 1 ) HRT ( sequential combination of 2 mg estradiol valerate and 1 mg cyproterone acetate , 2 ) Vit D3 ( 300 and 100 IU/day during the fifth year ) , 3 ) HRT and Vit D combined , and 4 ) placebo .  Lumbar ( L2-L4 ) and femoral neck BMD were determined by dual x-ray absorptiometry ( DXA ) at baseline and after 2.5 and 5 yr of treatment . Intention to treat analysis ( n = 464 ) showed that after 5 yr , lumbar BMD remained unchanged in the HRT and HRT plus Vit D groups [ + 0.2 % ( P = 0.658 ) and + 0.9 % ( P = 0.117 ) , respectively ] , whereas lumbar BMD decreased by 4.6 % in the Vit D group and by 4.5 % in the placebo group ( P < 0.001 in both ) . The loss of femoral neck BMD was less in the HRT ( -1.4 % ; P = 0.005 ) and HRT plus Vit D ( -1.3 % ; P = 0.003 ) groups than in the Vit D and placebo groups ( -4.3 % ; P < 0.001 in both ) . Among those 370 women who complied with the 5-yr treatment , the effect was more pronounced : lumbar BMD had increased by 1.5 % in the HRT ( P = 0.009 ) and by 1.8 % in the HRT plus Vit D group ( P = 0.005 ) , with a plateau after 2.5 yr , whereas lumbar BMD had decreased in both the Vit D and placebo groups ( 4.6 % and 4.7 % ; P < 0.001 , respectively ) . Femoral neck BMD decreased again less in the HRT ( -0.4 % ) and HRT plus Vit D ( -0.6 % ) groups than in the Vit D and placebo groups ( -4.4 % in both ) . This study confirms the positive long term effect of HRT on BMD also seen in intention to treat analysis . The data suggest that low dose vitamin D3 supplementation does not prevent  bone loss in healthy , nonosteoporotic , early postmenopausal women , and it confers no benefit additional to that of HRT alone
We found high quality evidence that hormone therapy in both primary and secondary prevention conferred no protective effects for all-cause mortality , cardiovascular death , non-fatal myocardial infa rct ion , angina , or revascularisation .
There was no strong evidence of effect on risk of stroke in this group .
Our review findings provide strong evidence that treatment with hormone therapy in post-menopausal women overall , for either primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease events has little if any benefit and causes an increase in the risk of stroke and venous thromboembolic events
BACKGROUND Evidence from systematic review s of observational studies suggests that hormone therapy may have beneficial effects in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease events in post-menopausal women , however the results of r and omised controlled trials ( RCTs ) have had mixed results .
This is an up date d version of a Cochrane review published in 2013 .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of hormone therapy for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women , and whether there are differential effects between use in primary or secondary prevention .
Secondary aims were to undertake exploratory analyses to ( i ) assess the impact of time since menopause that treatment was commenced ( ≥ 10 years versus < 10 years ) , and where these data were not available , use age of trial participants at baseline as a proxy ( ≥ 60 years of age versus < 60 years of age ) ; and ( ii ) assess the effects of length of time on treatment .