Cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of Danish women born in 1936 prior to use of hormone therapy.

Objective: Many observational studies suggest hormone therapy protects against coronary heart disease in contrast to findings from large randomised clinical trials and an observational Danish study. A potential bias in the observational literature concerning the cardiovascular risk and benefits associated with use of hormone therapy is the so-called ‘healthy user’ phenomenon, i.e. self-selection to HT use is associated with healthier cardiovascular risk profile. This study investigates whether a random sample of Danish women using HT was characterised by a favourable cardiovascular risk profile prior to menopause.