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Review of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI)

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) was a 15-year national health study started in 1991 focused on developing strategies to prevent chronic diseases that are the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in older women. These conditions are heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer and osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women.

Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Heart and Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the WHI involved the participation of over 161,000 women aged 50-79.

The following site contains findings on the estrogen-only study and the estrogen plus progestin study, the findings of which differ significantly. For more information on study results, visit http://www.whi.org/findings.