The Role of Estrogens as a Risk Factor for Stroke in Postmenopausal Women

The estrogen component in oral contraceptives is generally thought to increase the risk of stroke in users as compared with controls. If this were true, an increased risk for stroke also should be seen among postmenopausal women using estrogens as compared with nonusers. To test this hypothesis, the charts of 198 postmenopausal patients who had had strokes were compared with those of 396 controls for estrogen use and for the associated risk factors of diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease. The difference between estrogen use in the study population versus controls proved not significant, and the use of estrogens did not significantly influence the distribution of the above risk factors. We concluded that the use of estrogens in physiological replacement doses does not increase the risk of stroke in postmenopausal women.