Heart Study Bolsters Doubt on Hormones

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NY Times, November 20, 2002

CHICAGO, Nov. 19 (AP) — Casting still more doubt on long-held assumptions, a study suggests that hormone supplements and antioxidant vitamins hold no heart benefits for older women who already have heart disease.

In fact, heart disease appeared to progress more quickly in women who took hormones, high doses of vitamins E and C, or both, than in those on placebos. That finding was not statistically significant, but the researchers said the trend was worrisome.

"It's a little bit surprising that the outcomes for both treatments were so bad," said the lead author, Dr. David Waters, chief of cardiology at San Francisco General Hospital. "When the study was designed in the early 1990's, both of these treatments were thought to be highly promising."

Hormone supplements were once thought to benefit the heart because naturally occurring estrogen helps keep cholesterol at healthy levels. But a landmark study that was reported last summer found that the pills might actually increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Similarly, antioxidant vitamins were thought to block the effects of oxygen molecules that could damage heart cells. But more recent studies have questioned the heart benefits and suggested that the vitamins might interfere with cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The new study, to appear on Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, involved 423 postmenopausal heart patients over three years. By its end, 2 women on placebos had died, compared with 4 who took hormones, 6 who took high doses of vitamins C and E, and 10 who took both vitamins and hormones.

John Hathcock, vice president for nutritional and regulatory science at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group for makers of vitamins and other dietary supplements, argued that the study did not disprove earlier research implying a benefit from vitamins. Mr. Hathcock called the results "a chance finding" and said the statistics were too weak to support the researchers' conclusions.