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\nAs you get older, your risk of heart disease and heart attack goes up.
\nMany women take menopausal hormone therapy to help relieve menopause symptoms such as hot flashes. Results from a large study called the Women's Health Initiative showed that women taking menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progesterone had a higher risk for stroke, serious blood clots, heart attacks, and other serious health problems. The risks were found to be much higher for women 60 years and older.
\nIf you decide to use menopausal hormone therapy, talk to your doctor. The Food and Drug Administration advises women who want to try menopausal hormone therapy to use the lowest dose that works for the shortest time needed.
\nRead more about menopausal symptoms and hormone therapy in our Menopause section.
\nYour family history can raise your risk for heart disease:3
\nA family history of heart disease does not always mean that you will have it too. This is especially true if your family member who had heart disease smoked or had other heart disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, that were not under control.
\nIf heart disease runs in your family, it may be because your family carries genes that raise your risk. An example would be a gene that makes your blood more likely to clot. Talk to your doctor about your family health history.
\nAfrican-American and American Indian and Alaska Native women are more likely to have heart disease than white, Hispanic, and Asian-American women.4 But heart disease is still the number one killer of white and African-American women.5
\nLearn more about these pregnancy complications in our Pregnancy section.
\nThis content is provided by the Office on Women's Health.
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