Conjugated equine estrogens protect against heart disease in postmenopausal women

CLEVELAND -New study based on KEEPS data suggests that oral conjugated equine estrogens slow down adverse effects of heart fat deposition leading to atherosclerosis.

During menopause women not only are likely to accumulate more abdominal visceral fat, but fat deposition around the heart also increases. This has been linked to atherosclerosis progression, which also increases between perimenopause and postmenopause. Hormone therapy has proven to slow down heart fat deposition and the progression of atherosclerosis, depending on the type of hormone therapy and route of administration.

A new study compared the effects of conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) and 17β-estradiol and contrasted oral and transdermal delivery to determine their effectiveness in preventing heart disease. Study results are published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

A new study evaluated recently menopausal women who participated in the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS) trial. Its purpose was to evaluate how various forms of estrogen, specifically oral CEE and transdermal 17β-estradiol, affected heart fat accumulation and atherosclerosis progression as measured by the thickness of the lining of the carotid arteries.