Women report symptoms after hormone therapy

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

When hormone replacement therapy is discontinued, women experience a return of symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats.
Many women may now have given up taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal symptoms because of health concerns. Recent research has suggested that some forms of HRT, at least, have more risks than benefits. A team at the University of Massachusetts now reports on what happens when women do stop taking HRT.

They found that symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats - typical of menopause - did trouble 21.5 per cent of those who had formerly taken HRT. Over half of those who had previously had such symptoms found they returned. Therefore, it's important for women and their doctors to explore various strategies for managing menopausal symptoms if they don't want to take HRT. However, HRT is still effective as s short term treatment and may be a good option for women who are not too much at risk from the drawbacks that have been discovered in recent studies.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 13th July 2005 Volume 294 pages 183-193

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