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 .
Effect of 10 years' hormone replacement therapy on bone mineral content in postmenopausal women.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 10 years of  hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) in postmenopausal women on bone mineral density of the lumbar spine ( L-BMD ) and bone mineral content of the distal forearm ( F- BMC ) . A total of 151 women were enrolled in the study , 100 of whom were r and omized to receive oral HRT ( equally divided between a continuous combined and a sequential treatment regimen ) , with the remaining 51 receiving placebo or no treatment .  The study was double-blind for the first 24 months , followed by 8 years of open-label follow-up . Total treatment duration was 10 years . At the end of 10 years , 38 % of women r and omized to continuous combined HRT remained on therapy compared with 22 % of those who had received sequential HRT and 49 % of the untreated group . A further 18 % of women originally r and omized to HRT had switched to other regimens . After 10 years of therapy , L-BMD was found to be significantly higher in HRT-treated women than in those who remained untreated ( 14.5 % ; p < 0.001 ) , corresponding to an increase in L-BMD of 13.1 % from baseline values on HRT compared with a reduction in L-BMD of 4.7 % without therapy . L-BMD increased by 15.9 % in women receiving continuous combined therapy compared with 11.1 % in those on sequential HRT ; however , intergroup differences were not statistically significant . F- BMC decreased by 0.7 % over the 10 year period in the HRT treatment groups compared with a reduction of 17.6 % in untreated women ( p < 0.001 ) . Mean F- BMC was 20.3 % higher in women who had received HRT than in those who had not received therapy at the end of the 10 year follow-up . In conclusion , 10 years of treatment with HRT result ed in a substantial increase in L-BMD , with F- BMC also significantly higher in the HRT group than in untreated women . These results confirm that long-term HRT exerts a continuous effect against bone loss in postmenopausal 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 .