Together with that was the women who were receiving hormone therapy had a greater occurrence of leg clots, deep vein leg thrombosis and a sizeable increase in gall bladder disease. So we began to see adverse effects and no benefit, and this really raised concern,

We must change our perception of heart attack, ... For years, heart attack was thought of as a man's disease. Women get their heart attacks later, but the woman is vulnerable.

We will examine the condition of their arteries before, during and after therapy, and compare it to women on no therapy to see if the hormones cause or prevent changes leading to heart disease.

They were less likely, particularly early on, to be referred for the balloon procedure to open up the arteries or even for bypass surgery,

and if so, does this modification result in a better outcome.

These new findings suggest the possibility that if a woman starts hormone therapy sooner rather than later, perhaps we will see some of the protective effects on the heart that natural estrogen provides - or at least it won't increase the risk of cardiovascular-related harm.