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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

An In Vivo Estrogen Deficiency Mouse Model for Screening Exogenous Estrogen Treatments of Cardiovascular Dysfunction After Menopause
06:18

An In Vivo Estrogen Deficiency Mouse Model for Screening Exogenous Estrogen Treatments of Cardiovascular Dysfunction After Menopause

Published on: August 13, 2019

Postmenopausal hormone therapy and cardiovascular disease: an overview of main findings

Marianne Canonico1, Céline Straczek, Emmanuel Oger

  • 1INSERM-Unit U780, Cardiovascular Section 16, Avenue Paul Vaillant-Couturier, 94807 Villejuif Cedex, France.

Maturitas
|May 30, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Hormone therapy, including estrogen, does not prevent cardiovascular disease in women and may increase stroke risk. Transdermal estrogen appears safer for venous thromboembolism, but more research is needed.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Women's Health

Background:

  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in women.
  • Hormone therapy (HT) has been investigated for potential CVD benefits.
  • Estrogen's cardioprotective effects remain controversial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To summarize divergent findings on HT and CVD in women.
  • To explore reasons for discrepancies between observational and clinical trials.
  • To provide guidance on HT use for CVD prevention.

Main Methods:

  • Review of observational studies and randomized clinical trials.
  • Analysis of data regarding estrogen alone and estrogen with progestins.
  • Evaluation of different estrogen administration routes (oral vs. transdermal).

Main Results:

  • Large trials did not confirm estrogen's cardioprotective effect.
  • Estrogen therapy may increase stroke and venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk.
  • Transdermal estrogen shows improved VTE safety compared to oral estrogen.

Conclusions:

  • Hormone therapy is not indicated for cardiovascular disease prevention in women.
  • Transdermal estrogen may be a safer option regarding VTE.
  • Further research is crucial for personalized HT benefit-risk assessment.

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