Prempro and Premarin/Provera Combination

Prempro (a combination of estrogen and progestin) is a leading hormone replacement therapy drug. It is prescribed for the treatment of postmenopausal symptoms.

Recent studies show long term use of Prempro may increase risks of strokes, heart attacks, blood clots, and breast cancer. The results from this study were so severe that the NIH-National Institute of Health ceased their experiments due to a fear that their participants may be at risk.

Concluding the hormones' risks outweighed those benefits, the NIH stopped the 16,600-woman study three years early - and is advising other women who use the estrogen-progestin combination to ask their doctors if they, too, should quit.

Premarin/Provera Combination

Wyeth, the maker of Prempro also manufactures Premarin, which shares the same estrogen component. In 1975, Premarin became Wyeth's best selling drug. It was also the 5th best seller in the nation. Wyeth did all they could to get the drug approved to treat symptoms of heart disease and osteoporosis. Recent studies of the National Institute of Health clearly show that Wyeth’s efforts in studying the results of Premarin were inaccurate. They found that the Premarin/Provera combnation doesn’t prevent heart disease; it in fact may cause it.


Premarin, the brand name for conjugated estrogens and a common medication used during hormone replacement therapy (HRT), treats menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and sleep disturbances. Premarin also helps to minimize bone loss associated with osteoporosis. The medication is derived from the urine of pregnant mares and contains a number of different estrogens. Precisely how each of these various estrogens contribute to the drug's overall effectiveness has not been definitively determined.

Because of estrogen's link to uterine cancer, Premarin is indicated in women who have had hysterectomies. Women with intact uteruses undergoing HRT are usually prescribed Prempro, a combination of two hormones, estrogen and progestin. The addition of progestin helps prevent overgrowth of the uterine lining, which can lead to cancer.

When the amount of estrogen in the blood begins to decrease, many women may develop typical symptoms: feelings of warmth in the face, neck, and chest, or sudden intense episodes of heat and sweating throughout the body (called "hot flashes" or "hot flushes"). These symptoms are sometimes very uncomfortable. Some women may also develop changes in the vagina (called "atrophic vaginitis") that cause discomfort, especially during and after intercourse.

Estrogens can be prescribed to treat these menopause symptoms. It is estimated that considerably more than half of all women undergoing menopause have only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all and, therefore, do not require estrogens. Other women may need estrogens for a few months, while their bodies adjust to lower estrogen levels. Sometimes the need will be for periods longer than six months. In an attempt to avoid overstimulation of the uterus (womb), estrogens are usually given cyclically during each month of use, such as three weeks of pills followed by one week without pills.

Sometimes women experience nervous symptoms or depression during menopause. There is no evidence that estrogens are effective for such symptoms without associated vasomotor symptoms. In the absence of vasomotor symptoms, estrogens should not be used to treat nervous symptoms, although other treatment may be needed.

You may have heard that taking estrogens for long periods (years) after the menopause will keep your skin soft and supple and keep you feeling young. There is no evidence that this is so, however, and such long-term treatment carries important risks.

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