Hormones May Help Heart, Study Shows

A Dutch study of more than 2,000 women bolsters research suggesting that hormone supplements taken in menopause have cardiovascular benefits. Compared with subjects who never used estrogen and progestin, women who took the hormone supplements for at least a year had a 47% lower risk of peripheral artery disease, or hardening of the arteries in the legs. Peripheral artery disease affects 8 million Americans, including 5% of the over-50 population, according to the Society of Cardiovascular & Interventional Radiology.