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 .
The KEEPS-Cognitive and Affective Study: baseline associations between vascular risk factors and cognition.
Midlife vascular risk factors influence later cognitive decline and Alzheimer 's disease ( AD ) . The decrease in serum estradiol levels during menopause has been associated with cognitive impairment and increased vascular risk , such as high blood pressure ( BP ) , which independently contributes to cognitive dysfunction and AD . We describe the extent to which vascular risk factors relate to cognition in healthy , middle-aged , recently postmenopausal women enrolled in the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Cognitive and Affective Study ( KEEPS-Cog ) at baseline . KEEPS-Cog is a double-blind , r and omized , placebo-controlled , parallel group , clinical trial , investigating the efficacy of low-dose , transdermal 17β-estradiol and oral conjugated equine estrogen on cognition . All results are cross-sectional and represent baseline data only . Analyses confirm that the KEEPS-Cog cohort ( n = 571 ) was middle aged ( mean 52.7 years , range 42 - 59 years ) , healthy , and free of cognitive dysfunction .  Higher systolic BP was weakly related to poorer performance in auditory working memory and attention ( p = 0.004 ; adjusted for multiple comparisons p = 0.10 ) . This relationship was not associated with endogenous hormone levels , and systolic BP was not related to any other cognitive domain . BP levels may be more sensitive than other vascular risk factors in detecting subtle differences in cognitive task performance in healthy , recently menopausal women . Lower BP early in menopause may affect cognitive domains known to be associated with AD
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 .