Abstract
Summary
Tested a second time was the hypothesis that mental impairment decreases in patients with cardio- or cerebrovascular disease treated with Premarin. Forty-five men with myocardial infarction and 32 with cerebral thrombosis were studied by means of the Rorschach test, which was first administered at the time either Premarin or placebo treatment was begun, and was repeated after 6 to 16 months. Each patient received a score denoting amount of increase or decrease in impairment following treatment. There was considerable overlap in scores between Premarin and placebo groups, and gains were relatively small for individual patients. The results paralleled findings from the earlier study in showing improved mental functioning in Premarin-treated patients with cerebral thrombosis compared with placebo-treated controls, but they were at variance with the previous findings regarding similar improvement in cardiac patients. Analysis of the results with the 153 male patients from the 2 studies combined showed superiority of Premarin among the cerebral patients only. However, with the cardiac patients separated into those receiving 1.25 mg Premarin and those given 0.625 mg daily, the improvement of those on the higher dosage compared with placebo-treated patients also bordered on significance. Those treated with 0.625 mg were not different from placebo patients. A positive relationship was found between degree of initial impairment and amount of improvement with Premarin therapy. Among the placebo-treated cerebral patients, an association was observed between age and increased impairment with time.
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