What would happen after women stopped taking hormones wasn't clear. But a report released today -- the first published data on symptoms reported by a large, diverse group of relatively healthy women who had stopped taking the pills -- suggests that hot flashes might sometimes continue longer than previously thought.

Of that group, slightly more than half of those who had been taking estrogen plus progestin reported having hot flashes after stopping the pills. And a fifth of those who had been taking the placebo said they experienced hot flashes after stopping their pills.

TEXT OF INFO BOX BEGINS HERE: Alternatives to hormones worth a try After they stopped taking their pills, women in a landmark hormone therapy study tried a number of non-medical ways to relieve menopausal symptoms, and for the most part, they worked: