1.   Any woman whose mother took this hormone while pregnant is at increased risk for a rare vaginal cancer, infertility and other medical problems.

2.   As a result, many doctors encourage women to take hormones.

3.   Bishop began taking the hormones last week.

4.   But bone loss resumes once a woman stops taking hormones.

5.   Conventional medical wisdom holds that women who take hormones decrease their odds of getting heart disease.

6.   Could be that extra blast of estrogen could actually prompt a heart attack or stroke in the first couple of years taking hormones.

7.   Dr. Bush suggested that women taking postmenopausal hormones should have their triglyceride levels checked.

8.   Even women who took the hormone for a brief time and then stopped seemed to benefit, the study found.

9.   Even if the breast cancer risk was enormously increased, he said, these benefits alone would argue that women are better off taking hormones.

10.   Health care specialists recommend women consult with someone knowledgeable in the field before taking natural hormones.