This is an application to support the Graylyn Conference on Women's Health to be held in October 2000, entitled "Effects of Estrogen on Thrombosis and Inflammation." The Graylyn Conference is an ongoing series of annual conferences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine focusing on critical issues relevant to postmenopausal women's health. This application requests partial support for this endeavor, which will focus on the latest developments regarding estrogen and its role in the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease. New findings with respect to estrogen and heart disease came from the recently reported Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study (HERS) in which a potential benefit of estrogen plus progestin therapy was offset by an unexpected increase in coronary heart disease events during the first year of treatment. This result, coupled with accumulating data on estrogen and risk for deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism and new evidence that estrogen increases C-reactive protein, suggest that estrogen may have clinically important proinflammatory or prothrombotic effects that could offset other beneficial effects. Understanding these previously unrecognized or under- emphasized effects of estrogen on thrombosis and inflammation will have important clinical and research implications regarding hormone replacement therapy and prevention of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this application is to seek support for a conference organized to review and integrate the expanding body of knowledge concerning the effects of estrogen on both arterial and venous thrombosis and its effects on vascular inflammation.

R13AG018264

2000-07-01

2001-06-30