Editorial The heart of the WHI study: time for hormone therapy policies to be revised

In 2002, immediately after the first publication of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) results1, attitudes to hormone therapy (HT) changed dramatically. Many millions of women in the USA2 and around the world stopped taking hormones because the WHI investigators and the media presentation of the data told them that HT is dangerous. The message that came out of the NIH-sponsored project was very clear: HT should not be prescribed for prevention of chronic diseases of old age (i.e. coronary artery disease and osteoporosis), but may still be considered on a short-term basis for women who have severe menopause-related symptoms. The resulting fear of increased risks of coronary artery disease an