Stanford researcher highlights importance of Women’s Health Initiative study
Stanford researcher breaks down importance of the Women’s Health Initiative after funding threatened
Updated: 7:00 PM PDT Apr 25, 2025
AND YOU’LL GET WEATHER UPDATES RIGHT FOR YOUR AREA. ALSO TONIGHT THIS HAS BEEN A DRAMATIC WEEK FOR RESEARCHERS WHO ARE PART OF A MAJOR LONG-TERM NATIONAL STUDY ON WOMEN’S HEALTH. ON MONDAY, THEY WERE TOLD THE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT WAS CUTTING THEIR FUNDING STARTING THIS FALL, AND THEN YESTERDAY, IN AN ABRUPT REVERSAL, HHS CHANGED COURSE, SAYING THAT IT WOULD NOT BE CUTTING THAT FUNDING. AND THE HEALTH SECRETARY HIMSELF, ROBERT F KENNEDY JR, POSTING THIS, SAYING IN PART, WE ARE NOT TERMINATING THE STUDY. WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT THIS PROJECT IS MISSION CRITICAL FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH. THE WOMEN’S HEALTH INITIATIVE, IT’S A LONG-TERM NATIONAL STUDY, A LONGITUDINAL STUDY. AND THE FIRST ONE STARTED WAY BACK IN THE 1990S, PROVIDING GROUNDBREAKING DATA AS IT COLLECTED MEDICAL INFORMATION FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN AND FOLLOWED THOSE WOMEN FOR YEARS. THE CURRENT STUDY ENROLLED MORE THAN 93,000 WOMEN IN 2010, AND IT FOLLOWS UP WITH THEM EVERY YEAR, COLLECTING ALL KINDS OF DATA ON A VARIETY OF HEALTH ISSUES. JOINING US NOW TO TALK ABOUT THIS MAJOR REVERSAL IS DOCTOR MARSHA STEFANIK. SHE IS A PROFESSOR AND RESEARCHER AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY’S MEDICAL SCHOOL, AND SHE’S THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FOR THE WOMEN’S HEALTH INITIATIVE EXTENSION STUDY. SO, FIRST OF ALL, WE JUST HAVE TO ASK WHAT THE WEEK HAS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU AND OTHER RESEARCHERS IN THIS WHO WERE TOLD YOUR FUNDING WAS CUT. NOW, THE RELIEF THAT IT’S NOT. WELL, IT WAS LIKE A ROLLER COASTER. SO GOING FROM BEING REALLY, REALLY SAD AND DEPRESSED TO BEING HOPEFUL, WE ACTUALLY HAVE NOT RECEIVED OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION THAT IT’S BEEN REINSTATED, REINSTATED. SO WHY DO YOU THINK THE REVERSAL, WHY DO YOU THINK HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WALKED THOSE CUTS BACK? WELL, I SUSPECT THEY DIDN’T REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THE STUDY WAS. AND I THINK BECAUSE THE MEDIA BROUGHT IT TO THEIR ATTENTION, THEY REALIZED THAT THIS REALLY WAS A VERY IMPORTANT IS A VERY IMPORTANT STUDY. AND I WILL CORRECT YOU THAT WE STARTED WITH 162,000 WOMEN ACROSS THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING ABOUT 30,000 WOMEN IN CALIFORNIA. AND I KNOW THAT YOUR CENTER THERE AT STANFORD IS ONE OF THE REGIONAL AREAS WHERE WOMEN CAN GO AND YOU CHECK IN ON THEM EVERY YEAR. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS WORK. WE KNOW THAT OLDER WOMEN ARE ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SEGMENTS OF OUR POPULATION. WHAT ARE YOU ABLE TO LEARN FROM THESE LONG TERM STUDIES AS YOU FOLLOW SO MANY WOMEN OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME? WELL, I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT 50% OF WOMEN MAKE IT TO AGE 80, AND WE HAVE ALMOST NO DATA ON WOMEN 80 AND OVER. SO THE FACT THAT WE STARTED WITH THESE WOMEN WHEN THEY WERE 50 TO 79, AND WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THEM TO THE POINT WHERE NOW THEY’RE ALMOST ALL OVER 80, IS PRETTY AMAZING. WE’RE DOWN TO 42,000 WOMEN ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. BUT WHAT WE’RE LEARNING IS. WE HAVE STUDIES THAT ARE LOOKING AT ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, LIKE RADON IN THE HOME. WE HAVE STUDIES OF DIET AND NUTRITION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, OUR HEALTH OUTCOMES INCLUDE EVERYTHING. SO WE’RE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND HEART FAILURE. ATRIAL FIBRILLATION. BUT ALL THE CANCERS, COGNITIVE FUNCTION ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE. SO EVERYTHING THAT OLDER WOMEN EXPERIENCE, WE ARE STUDYING. AND YOU TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT JUST THEN TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE’S IN THEIR IN THEIR HEART CONDITIONS. YOU’RE RUNNING A TRIAL RIGHT NOW TESTING A WAY TO TRY TO BRING DOWN MAJOR HEART PROBLEMS AND PEOPLE WHO ARE OVER 68. SO, I MEAN, I KNOW THIS IS JUST ONE FACET OF A BROAD RANGE. SO TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT RESEARCH. WELL, THE ORIGINAL STUDIES WERE ACTUAL RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIALS. SO IT WASN’T JUST PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDIES. THE LONGITUDINAL STUDY. SO WE INITIALLY WERE LOOKING AT WHETHER MENOPAUSAL HORMONE THERAPY WOULD PREVENT HEART DISEASE, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE LEADING IDEA. AND WE FOUND OUT THAT IT DID NOT. IN FACT, IT INCREASED YOUR RISK OF STROKE. BUT WE HAVE SOME BENEFITS, SOME RISKS. AND SO WE REALLY DID CHANGE HOW PEOPLE WERE PRESCRIBING MENOPAUSAL HORMONES, CERTAINLY NOT TO OLDER WOMEN ANYMORE. WE ALSO DID A BIG DIET STUDY LOOKING AT MOSTLY BREAST CANCER, BUT ALSO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND A BIG CALCIUM AND VITAMIN D TRIAL. LOOKING AT HOW THAT AFFECTED BONE HEALTH, AS WELL AS COLORECTAL CANCER. CURRENTLY, WE ARE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT ALL KINDS OF RISK FACTORS FOR HEART DISEASE AND CANCER. SO IT’S NOT JUST CARDIOVASCULAR. YEAH, REALLY IMPORTANT WORK. AND DOCTOR STEFANIK, WE ARE OUT OF TIME. BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. AND WE APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM ARE DOING. AN
Stanford researcher breaks down importance of the Women’s Health Initiative after funding threatened
Updated: 7:00 PM PDT Apr 25, 2025
It’s been a rollercoaster of a week for researchers who are part of a major, long-term national study on women’s health. The current Women’s Health Initiative study enrolled more than 162,000 women in 2010, including about 30,000 women in California. Researchers follow up with them every year, collecting data on health issues like cardiovascular disease, cancers, and bone fractures, among others.On Monday, they were told the Health and Human Services Department was cutting their funding in the fall. But on Thursday, the HHS abruptly changed course, saying it would not be cutting the funding. Dr. Marcia Stefanick, a professor and researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine, is the principal investigator for the Women’s Health Initiative extension study. She joined KCRA 3 on Friday to talk about the importance of her work.”I suspect they didn’t really understand how important the study was,” Stefanick said. The research provides new insight into the health issues older women face.”Fifty percent of women make it to age 80, and we have almost no data on women 80 and over,” Stefanik said. “The fact that we started with these women when they were 50 to 79 and we’ve been following them to the point where now they’re almost all over 80 is pretty amazing.”Stefanick said around 42,000 participants remain in the study.The study itself can be broken down into other nuanced and specialized data, gathering key information for medical research.”We have studies that are looking into environmental factors like radon in the home. We have studies of diet and nutrition, physical activity,” Stefanick said. “Our health outcomes include everything, so we’re particularly interested in cardiovascular disease and heart failure, atrial fibrillation, all the cancers, cognitive function, Alzheimer’s disease—everything that older women experience, we are studying.”Dr. Stefanick noted that as of Friday evening, researchers have not officially received notification that the funding was reinstated by the HHS.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
It’s been a rollercoaster of a week for researchers who are part of a major, long-term national study on women’s health.
The current Women’s Health Initiative study enrolled more than 162,000 women in 2010, including about 30,000 women in California. Researchers follow up with them every year, collecting data on health issues like cardiovascular disease, cancers, and bone fractures, among others.
On Monday, they were told the Health and Human Services Department was cutting their funding in the fall.
But on Thursday, the HHS abruptly changed course, saying it would not be cutting the funding.
Dr. Marcia Stefanick, a professor and researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine, is the principal investigator for the Women’s Health Initiative extension study. She joined KCRA 3 on Friday to talk about the importance of her work.
“I suspect they didn’t really understand how important the study was,” Stefanick said.
The research provides new insight into the health issues older women face.
“Fifty percent of women make it to age 80, and we have almost no data on women 80 and over,” Stefanik said. “The fact that we started with these women when they were 50 to 79 and we’ve been following them to the point where now they’re almost all over 80 is pretty amazing.”
Stefanick said around 42,000 participants remain in the study.
The study itself can be broken down into other nuanced and specialized data, gathering key information for medical research.
“We have studies that are looking into environmental factors like radon in the home. We have studies of diet and nutrition, physical activity,” Stefanick said. “Our health outcomes include everything, so we’re particularly interested in cardiovascular disease and heart failure, atrial fibrillation, all the cancers, cognitive function, Alzheimer’s disease—everything that older women experience, we are studying.”
Dr. Stefanick noted that as of Friday evening, researchers have not officially received notification that the funding was reinstated by the HHS.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
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