Women taking HT had a significantly decreased incidence of fracture with long-term use .
Research ers found no strong evidence that HT has a clinical ly meaningful impact on the incidence of colorectal cancer .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS : Women with intolerable menopausal symptoms may wish to weigh the benefits of symptom relief against the small absolute risk of harm arising from short-term use of low-dose HT , provided they do not have specific contraindications .
HT may be unsuitable for some women , including those at increased risk of cardiovascular disease , increased risk of thromboembolic disease ( such as those with obesity or a history of venous thrombosis ) or increased risk of some types of cancer ( such as breast cancer , in women with a uterus ) .
The risk of endometrial cancer among women with a uterus taking oestrogen-only HT is well documented .
HT is not indicated for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease or dementia , nor for prevention of deterioration of cognitive function in postmenopausal women .
Although HT is considered effective for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis , it is generally recommended as an option only for women at significant risk for whom non-oestrogen therapies are unsuitable .
BACKGROUND : Hormone therapy ( HT ) is widely provided for control of menopausal symptoms and has been used for the management and prevention of cardiovascular disease , osteoporosis and  dementia in older women .
This is an up date d version of a Cochrane review first published in 2005 .
OBJECTIVES : To assess effects of long-term HT ( at least 1 year 's duration ) on mortality , cardiovascular outcomes , cancer , gallbladder disease , fracture and cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women during and after cessation of treatment .
Effects of different hormone therapies on breast pain in recently postmenopausal women: findings from the Mayo Clinic KEEPS breast pain ancillary study.
UNLABELLED Abstract Background : It is estimated that 70 % of women in Western societies experience breast pain at least once during their lifetime . In the Women 's Health Initiative ( WHI ) , women treated with oral conjugated equine estrogen ( 0.625 mg ) with or without continuous oral medroxyprogesterone acetate ( 2.5 mg ) had a higher incidence of breast pain than those who received placebo . The effect of other hormone therapy regimens on breast pain is unknown . We compared breast pain among healthy , recently menopausal women enrolled in the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study ( KEEPS ) at Mayo Clinic . METHODS Women were r and omized to : 0.45 mg/day oral conjugated equine estrogen ( o-CEE ) plus 200 mg/day micronized progesterone ( m-P ) for the first 12 days of the month , 50 μg/day transdermal 17β estradiol ( t-E2 ) plus m-P for 12 days , or placebo pills and patch .  Participants completed the Mayo Clinic breast pain question naire at baseline and yearly for the duration of the study . RESULTS Participants ( 116 ) averaged 53.0 years of age and 1.6 years past their last menses at baseline . At baseline , 12 women ( 10 % ) reported breast pain with an average worst pain score [ from 0 ( no pain ) to 10 ( worst pain ) ] of 0.39±1.28 . With treatment , the number of women reporting pain did not increase , and with either intention-to-treat or per- protocol analyses , breast pain scores did not differ significantly ( p=0.39 ) among groups : t-E2 ( 0.53±1.21 ) , o-CEE ( 0.32±0.78 ) , placebo ( 0.23±0.87 ) . CONCLUSION Four years of treatment with o-CEE at a lower dose than that studied in the WHI with cyclic m-P or transdermal E2 with cyclic m-P did not increase breast pain in healthy , recently menopausal women
Women taking HT had a significantly decreased incidence of fracture with long-term use .
Research ers found no strong evidence that HT has a clinical ly meaningful impact on the incidence of colorectal cancer .
AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS : Women with intolerable menopausal symptoms may wish to weigh the benefits of symptom relief against the small absolute risk of harm arising from short-term use of low-dose HT , provided they do not have specific contraindications .
HT may be unsuitable for some women , including those at increased risk of cardiovascular disease , increased risk of thromboembolic disease ( such as those with obesity or a history of venous thrombosis ) or increased risk of some types of cancer ( such as breast cancer , in women with a uterus ) .
The risk of endometrial cancer among women with a uterus taking oestrogen-only HT is well documented .
HT is not indicated for primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease or dementia , nor for prevention of deterioration of cognitive function in postmenopausal women .
Although HT is considered effective for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis , it is generally recommended as an option only for women at significant risk for whom non-oestrogen therapies are unsuitable .
BACKGROUND : Hormone therapy ( HT ) is widely provided for control of menopausal symptoms and has been used for the management and prevention of cardiovascular disease , osteoporosis and  dementia in older women .
This is an up date d version of a Cochrane review first published in 2005 .
OBJECTIVES : To assess effects of long-term HT ( at least 1 year 's duration ) on mortality , cardiovascular outcomes , cancer , gallbladder disease , fracture and cognition in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women during and after cessation of treatment .