More harm than good. (FYI).

Evidence continues to accumulate that there is no good reason for most women to take combined hormones after menopause. New analyses from the Women's Health Initiative, which previously found that postmenopausal use of estrogen plus progestin is associated with several health risks, indicate that hormone therapy has no beneficial effects on health-related quality of life. (1) The randomized, placebo-controlled study, involving nearly 17,000 postmenopausal women, provided an opportunity to explore possible benefits of combined hormone use for which earlier research had produced inconsistent findings. Results showed no significant associations between hormone therapy use and general health, vitality, mental health, depressive symptoms or sexual satisfaction. After one year, women using combined hormones had small improvements in sleep disturbance, bodily pain and physical functioning; however, these associations were not clinically meaningful, and they were no longer significant after three years. "For most women," the investigators conclude, "these small benefits do not outweigh the risks of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer associated with combined hormone therapy."

(1.) Hays J et al., Effects of estrogen plus progestin on health-related quality of life, New England Journal of Medicine, 2003, 348(19): 1839-1854.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.