There’s so much controversy over treating menopausal symptoms with hormone therapy. Here, we look at the facts. Is hormone therapy a fabulous fix or a radical risk?

Video Transcription

Female 1: You know you are going through menopause, but what you are less sure about is treating your symptoms with hormones. Female 2: From the 1960’s to the late 1990’s, Hormone Replacement Therapy or HRT was the gold standard for treating the hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and other characteristic symptoms of menopause. Not only did HRT appear to alleviate menopausal symptoms, it was also found to help prevent the bone weakening disease, Osteoporosis, a particularly serious problem for post-menopausal women. It was little wonder therefore that by 1990, the estrogen replacement drug Premarin was the most frequently prescribed medication for menopause in the United States. Then in 2002, a study by a group called The Women’s Health Initiative through all the commonly held beliefs about hormone therapy into question. This study measured the long-term effects of estrogen-only hormone therapy, which was the treatment of choice for post hysterectomy women and the more commonly used combination therapy of estrogen plus progesterone. Surprisingly both trials were called to a halt years before completion because it appeared that the risks of hormone treatment significantly outweighed the benefits. The study found that in the group of 10,000 women taking combination hormone therapy, there were 18 more life-threatening blood clots, eight breast cancer diagnosis, seven more strokes and six more heart attacks than in women taking placebos. At the same time, women using estrogen-only therapy did share the increased risks of strokes but suffered none of the other negative consequences. Today, although HRT is no longer the mainstay for symptomatic menopause, for some women with severe menopausal symptoms the benefits outweigh potential risks. For these patients, doctors seriously consider family history as well as personal risk factors and then prescribed the smallest dose of hormones for the shortest possible time. Women with breast cancer or history of blood clots however are strongly advised not to try HRT for menopausal symptoms. If you have troubles in menopausal symptoms, please discuss hormone replacement with your doctor. Female 1: You want to learn more? Check out other videos and sources on this site for more information.