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 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.
|