A 2002 landmark randomized study of more than 26,000 women found that use of estrogen alone or combined with progestin was associated with higher rates of stroke, blood clots, breast cancer and other serious risks.
January 01, 2002
high
temporal
Key historical clinical trial evidence that changed perceptions and prescribing of menopausal hormone therapy.
Women are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease nearly twice as often as men; proposed explanations for this sex difference include longer female life expectancy, hormonal changes such as shifts in estrogen during menopause, and differences in diagnostic patterns (for example, women being more likely to seek medical help for memory concerns).
high
temporal
Provides a general epidemiological statistic and commonly cited hypotheses for the sex disparity in Alzheimer's diagnoses.
Menopause is the biological stage when the ovaries stop producing estrogen, and it typically occurs in a woman's late 40s.
high
definition
General description of the menopausal transition
Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for menopausal hot flashes and night sweats, but it is generally unsuitable for women with a history of breast cancer because their cancer or its treatments typically lower or block estrogen.
high
treatment
Comparative suitability of hormone therapy for managing menopausal vasomotor symptoms
Hormone-based drugs containing estrogen or progestin are used to treat hot flashes and other menopause symptoms.
high
definition
General description of the clinical use of menopausal hormone therapy.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) consists of estrogen combined with progesterone, or estrogen alone for women who have had a hysterectomy.
high
definition
Basic composition of HRT formulations commonly used to manage menopause symptoms.
Menopause hormone therapy (also called hormone replacement therapy or HRT) comprises medications prescribed to treat menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and vaginal dryness by replenishing hormones like estrogen and progesterone that decline during the transition to menopause.
high
definition
General definition of hormone therapy for menopause and its therapeutic goal.
Systemic hormone therapy is designed to circulate hormones throughout the bloodstream and is administered orally or via transdermal methods such as patches, sprays, or gels; systemic therapy provides whole-body symptom relief but generally carries higher systemic risk than local therapy, and systemic options include estrogen-only, progesterone-only, or combined regimens.
high
administration
Describes systemic routes, scope of benefit, relative risk, and regimen types for hormone therapy.
In clinical practice, women who have had a hysterectomy (uterus removed) typically receive estrogen-only systemic therapy, whereas women with an intact uterus are typically prescribed combined estrogen and progesterone systemic therapy to reduce the risk of endometrial cancer.
high
clinical
Clinical rationale for adding progesterone to estrogen therapy in women with an intact uterus to protect the endometrium.