Sessions on Study Results, Ongoing Extension Study, and Future Research
Scientists and Study Participants Gather at Conference on Scientific
Contributions of the Women’s Health Initiative — The Largest Study of Older
Women’s Health
Many of the nation’s leading scientists and experts on women’s health will
join Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study participants February 28 — March
1, 2006 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, MD to
celebrate the legacy and probe the findings and future directions of the WHI.
The WHI is the largest and most comprehensive study of postmenopausal women’s
health ever conducted in the United States. From revealing the effects of a low-fat
diet and calcium/vitamin D supplements to the dangers of hormone replacement
therapy, the study has helped to shape and advance the health care of women for
more than a decade.
Conference speakers will closely examine findings from the WHI’s clinical trials
and observational studies, analyze the study’s impact on public health and on
national guidelines and recommendations, and discuss not only the ongoing extension
study but also future research using stored blood and genetic samples.
Presenters include Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., director of the NIH; Elizabeth G.
Nabel, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI),
which funded the study, and also current director of the WHI; Vivian Pinn, M.D.,
director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health; Bernadine Healy, M.D.,
who launched the study as the head of NIH in 1991 and Marcia Stefanick, Ph.D.,
chair of the WHI Steering Committee and principal investigator at the Stanford
University clinical center study site. Most of the WHI principal investigators
will be presenting at or attending the event. In addition, participants in each
of the three clinical trials will share personal accounts of their involvement
in the historic study.
“The WHI has replaced conventional wisdom about women's health issues with evidence-based
research findings, and reminded us that there aren't always simple, universal
answers to complex questions. It also influenced the ways in which scientific
studies involving women are now designed and conducted,” said Dr. Zerhouni. “These
are just a few of the many contributions from a study that will continue to enhance
the lives of women for decades to come.”
“The WHI has significantly contributed to our knowledge of disease prevention
in postmenopausal women and has challenged many clinical practice and prevention
policies,” said Dr. Nabel, “Due to the dedication of thousands of women and the
widespread release of study findings, the WHI has had a global impact on women’s
health care and on the lives of generations of mothers, daughters, and granddaughters.”
Highlights of the two day conference include:
- Presentations on the design, implications, and primary results of the
recently published Dietary Modification Trial. Speakers include WHI consultant Leslie
Ford, M.D., Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute’s Division
of Cancer Prevention, and WHI principal investigator Ross Prentice, Ph.D.,
of the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The Dietary Modification
trial is the largest-ever clinical trial of a low-fat diet. The study revealed
that following an eating pattern lower in total fat did not significantly reduce
the risk of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, or colorectal cancer in healthy
postmenopausal women.
- Sessions on the public health impact and results of the WHI Calcium and
Vitamin D trial. Speakers include: WHI consultant Joan McGowan, Ph.D., Director of
the Musculoskeletal Diseases Branch at the National Institute of Arthritis
and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; Rebecca Jackson and Jean Wactawski-Wende,
Ph.D., WHI principal investigator at the University at Buffalo. Released this
month, results from the trial revealed that calcium and vitamin D supplements
in postmenopausal women have a modest benefit on bone mineral density and prevent
hip fractures in certain groups but do not prevent colorectal cancer or other
fractures.
- Sessions on the results and public health impact of the WHI hormone trials
and future directions for menopausal hormone research. Speakers include Dr.
Stefanick, Barbara Alving, M.D., former director of the WHI, and Jacques Rossouw,
M.D., WHI Project Officer. The long-term WHI hormone studies evaluated the
effects of menopausal hormone therapy on heart disease, breast cancer, colorectal
cancer, and osteoporosis. In 2002, the WHI estrogen-plus-progestin study was
stopped because of an increased risk of breast cancer and because, overall,
risks from use of the hormones outweighed the benefits. The combination therapy
increased the risk for heart attack, stroke, and blood clots but also reduced
the risk for hip and other fractures, and colorectal cancer. The study results
reverberated throughout the world and significantly changed the treatment of
postmenopausal women. Two years later, the WHI estrogen-alone study was halted
because of an increased risk of stroke and no significant effect on the risk
of heart disease. Estrogen-alone also increased the risk for venous thrombosis
(blood clots deep in a vein). Like the combination therapy, estrogen-alone
reduced the risk for hip and other fractures.
- Sessions on the WHI Extension Study, the impact of WHI on national guidelines
and recommendations, and directions for future research on women’s health. Speakers include Richard Hodes, M.D., director of the National Institute on
Aging; Dr. Nabel, Dr. Pinn, Marian Limacher, M.D. WHI investigator at the University
of Florida in Gainesville, and Sally Shumaker, Ph.D. of Wake Forest University
School of Medicine and principal investigator of the Women’s Health Initiative
Memory Study. The WHI Extension Study will follow WHI participants through
2010 and will allow for the collection of longer-term data on the effects of
stopping hormones (or making other health changes) on women’s health.
- Sessions on the WHI observational study. Speakers include Teri Manolio, M.D.
of NHLBI and the National Human Genome Research Institute, WHI investigator
JoAnn Manson, M.D., DrPH of the Harvard School of Public Health and WHI investigator
Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, Ph.D. of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
in New York City. The observational study yielded important findings on the
effects of exercise on cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and diabetes,
including that the duration of exercise increases the degree of protection
against disease, and walking is as effective as more vigorous exercise in protecting
against breast cancer.
Immediately before the conference, scientists from around the country will discuss
proposed studies using WHI blood and DNA samples to determine the factors that
contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and fractures
in women. WHI investigators are already engaged in a separate genome association
study, which will examine the DNA of some 12,000 participants with and without
heart disease, stroke, and breast cancer, to determine the genes that predict
these diseases.
For more information on the WHI: A Legacy To Future Generations conference and
for an agenda, please visit, http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi/references.htm. For
more information on the Women’s Health Initiative, see http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi.
Reporters can pre-register for the conference or schedule interviews with speakers
and participants by calling the NHLBI Communications Office at 301-496-4236 or
e-mailing nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov. Room J in the Natcher Auditorium on the NIH
Campus will be available for press use and registration, and will feature a video
feed of the conference proceedings.
NHLBI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Federal Government’s
primary agency for biomedical and behavioral research. NIH is a component of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NHLBI press releases and
other materials including information about women and heart disease are available
online at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research
Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of
the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary Federal
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical
research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common
and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov. |