term HRT was for years prescribed as a way to battle the diseases of aging, including osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. For many women, it was thought, the slightly increased risk of breast cancer might be offset by a lower risk of heart disease and stroke -- far bigger killers than breast cancer. But there was always uncertainty about the cardiovascular benefits of HRT, Krieger and her colleagues note. Krieger pointed to one study, started in the late 1960s, that found that giving men estrogen raised their risk of cardiovascular disease rather than lowering it, as expected. And when it came to women, the research evidence was often conflicting and indirect - for example, coming from observational studies in which women on hormone replacement were found to have lower rates of heart disease. --More 2111 Local Time 1811 GMT
