From Harvard: An update on the use of hormone therapy with menopausal patients

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21296989

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Feb;96(2):255-64.
Update in hormone therapy use in menopause.
Taylor HS, Manson JE.

Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215. jmanson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
Abstract
The original report from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) changed our understanding of the benefits and risks of hormone therapy. Since that time, reanalysis of the WHI and additional data from other studies have further refined these concepts. Here we provide an update on recent advances in the field. Menopausal hormone therapy continues to have a clinical role in the management of vasomotor symptoms. However, our understanding of the role of hormones in cardiovascular disease and breast cancer continues to evolve. Further analyses of the effect of age and proximity to menopause at the time of initiation of therapy, duration of treatment, dose, route of administration, and the persistence of risks and benefits after stopping hormone therapy are described. In addition, recent data have emerged suggesting that there may be a link between hormone therapy and cancers of the lung and ovary. Finally, we discuss new advances in hormone therapy that will likely lead to a more favorable benefit-to-risk ratio, enabling safer effective menopausal symptom relief.