A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week suggested that women in their 50s who are taking hormone replacement therapy may have a lesser risk of heart attack than older women on the regimen. The results were based on additional analysis of data from the 2002 Women's Health Initiative.

Here's what one Washington doctor, Ellen Whitaker, a gynecologist at Washington Hospital Center, had to say about the study:

Q. Are you hearing that women are confused about the findings?

A. Not really, Whitaker said. But the results weren't overwhelmingly convincing. The study is "really not giving us any answers. ... It's supporting to some extent" an existing belief among some gynecologists that younger women face lower risk from hormone therapy than do older women.

Q. Does this study mean that women just entering menopause who are troubled by hot flashes, sleeplessness and other symptoms can feel reassured about the safety of taking hormones?

A. Not necessarily. "I generally reserve (hormone therapy) for patients who are having severe symptoms," regardless of age, Whitaker said. "But it's their choice."

Q. Will the new findings change recommendations you make to your patients?

A. Unlikely, Whitaker said. More study is needed to explore potential differences among age groups. And because the study wasn't designed to explore such age differences, she said, the most recent results are more of a "rehashing (of) old data."