More Evidence of the Safety of Menopause Hormone Therapy
The benefits of hormone therapy for the treatment of menopause symptoms outweigh the risks.
This is the conclusion of an analysis based on 2 decades of follow-up data from the landmark Women’s Health Initiative (WHI).
The analysis, recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), concluded that for women under the age of 60 or in the first 10 years of menopause who do not have contraindications, hormone therapy has a low risk of adverse events and can be used safely for the treatment of menopause symptoms and reduction of bone loss.
“The WHI findings should never be used as a reason to deny hormone therapy to women in early menopause with bothersome menopausal symptoms,” said lead researcher Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
These findings are consistent with recommendations from The Endocrine Society and the North American Menopause Society. Both groups support the use of hormone therapy in appropriate candidates in early menopause.
Not all women are good candidates for hormone therapy. The authors of the WHI analysis reinforced the importance of women making shared decisions with physicians about the benefits or risks of taking hormone therapy during menopause.
My thoughts:
Women should not be left to suffer through menopause.
Fears of menopause hormone therapy have been largely overblown.
All women deserve a conversation with their physician to assess the risks and potential benefits of hormone therapy.
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