GROUNDBREAKING WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE STUDIES RADICALLY ALTER THINKING
Hormone-therapy Research Ranks Among “Hottest” Research Today
Philadelphia, PA, USA-London, UK - May 16, 2005 — The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a U.S.-based long-term national health study, has had enormous influence on modern scientific thought by producing two recent influential Hot Papers, according to Science Watch, the Thomson Scientific bimonthly newsletter. Thomson Scientific is a business of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).
A “Hot Paper,” as identified in the Thomson Scientific Hot Papers Database, is a published work that presents original research and that has achieved a rate of citations in scientific journals that is markedly higher than papers of comparable type and age.
“In recent WHI studies, the group’s scientists countered blossoming notions that hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) can prevent cardiovascular conditions,” said Christopher King, editor of Science Watch. “Their studies found that HRT did not prevent heart disease and, in fact, might make matters worse.”
This finding, among several others regarding the effects of HRT, was demonstrated in two highly influential papers: 2002’s “Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women,” and 2004’s “Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy.”
The 2002 study became the most-cited paper presenting original research published in 2002. Like its predecessor, the 2004 paper became the most-cited original-research paper of that year and today remains one of the 10 “Hottest” papers in the world for this field.
In less recognized works, the WHI has cited other issues associated with HRT, such as the blood clotting condition venous thrombosis, urinary incontinence and, recently, mammography.
“Combined hormone therapy and breast cancer: a single-edged sword,” the group’s mammography study published in 2003, supports the previously reported increased risk of breast cancer associated with HRT. HRT, as was noted in an editorial accompanying the paper, decreases the sensitivity of mammography, creating “an almost unique situation in which an agent increases the risk of developing a disease while simultaneously delaying its detection.” This study presently ranks as the 17th in the field of medicine in the Science Watch Hot Papers rankings.
The May/June issue of Science Watch also ranks the “Hottest” papers in the field of medicine. For these rankings, please contact Rodney Yancey at 215-386-6362 or rodney.yancey@thomson.com.
NOTE: For information on subscribing to Science Watch, contact Rodney Yancey at 215-386-6362 or by email at rodney.yancey@thomson.com.
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