What are the Benefit and Risks of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)?

The benefits of hormone therapy outweigh the risks for the majority of healthy women without contraindications going through perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause (when given within 10 years of post-menopause).

• Hormone therapy can help women whose menopausal symptoms interfere with their everyday lives by addressing sleep quality, fatigue, mood, and overall quality of life.
• Hot flushes and night sweats (vasomotor symptoms) can be effectively treated with hormone therapy. Hot flushes and night sweats should be reduced within a few weeks of commencing HRT.
• Hormone therapy can reduce the risk of Osteoporosis and fractured bones.
• The genitourinary syndrome of menopause, which includes painful sex, frequent UTIs, and dry vagina, can be treated with topical hormone treatment – vaginal oestrogen creams or rings (2), and within 1-3 months, improvements should occur.
• Hormone Replacement Therapy Risks

When progesterone and oestrogen are taken by women who have not had a hysterectomy:

• There is no higher risk of uterine cancer.
• The difference in breast cancer incidence is an additional 4 cases over 5 years per 1,000 women aged 50-59. However, as women on hormone therapy are closely monitored, breast cancer is likely to be at an earlier stage with a lower risk of death than for women not taking hormone therapy. (2,3)

For women taking oestrogen who have had a hysterectomy:

• 4 fewer cases of breast cancer incidence per 1,000 women aged 50-59 over 5 years. (3)

For women with a history of breast cancer in the family:

• The use of appropriate hormone therapy does not increase the risk of breast cancer. (2,3)