Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not protect postmenopausal women from stroke, but rather increases the risk, particularly of ischaemic stroke. On page 342, Bath and Gray report the results of a meta-analysis of 28 randomised controlled trials with 39 769 participants. Hormone replacement therapy significantly increased the risk of total stroke, non-fatal stroke, stroke leading to death or disability, and ischaemic stroke and was associated with a trend to more fatal stroke. They found no evidence of the association with haemorrhagic stroke or transient ischaemic attack.
Figure 1.
Credit: SHEILA TERRY/SPL