In 2002, the Women's Health Initiative study (WHI), which was designed to demonstrate additional benefits for conventional hormone therapy (study participants were given Prempro or a placebo), was terminated prematurely after preliminary data indicated small increases in the risks of breast cancer, heart attack and stroke in older women using Prempro. The early termination of the WHI study (which used conjugated equine estrogens) and the subsequent publicity about these previously unappreciated risks led to a decline in prescriptions for CHRT. The results of the WHI were used by BHT prescribers to promote bioidentical hormones as safer than the FDA-regulated preparations despite a lack of evidence; according to the FDA, the results found by the study apply to all estrogens. BHT has since been strongly promoted as a natural alternative with fewer risks than CHRT, though there is no evidence to support this claim. BHT practitioners recommend compounded products due to their claim that they more closely mimic the composition and ratio of circulating hormones in a woman's body than do commercially manufactured products.