A RESEARCH review of evidence-based recommendations for menopause hormone therapy (MHT) has found that its impact differs significantly between demographics and use should be tailored to individual need.
The authors noted that the limitations of the principle findings of the Women's Health Initiative, the Million Women Study and other extensive pioneering studies of MHT that raised alarm are now well-recognised.
"Emergent differences in outcomes according to age, dose, route and type of MHT used have enabled better stratification of risks and benefits of different formulations of MHT to facilitate individualised treatments, which are embedded into current international consensus recommendations," they wrote.
The review recommends tailored use of MHT for well-defined indications, recognising its value for menopause symptom relief, and skeletal and cardiovascular benefits for many midlife women.
Based on the evidence, the authors suggest MHT may be used as long as the benefits outweigh risks through shared decision-making between the patient and their medical practitioner.
"The review highlights that prescribing oestrogen in doses higher than approved may increase the likelihood of vaginal bleeding, and that no studies have shown higher than regulator-approved doses of menopausal hormone therapy to be safe with regards to breast cancer or other disease risks," said co-author Professor Susan Davis from Monash University Women's Health Research Program.
The authors also found insufficient clinical evidence to support the long-term use of MHT in some women accessing it in clinical practice.
Read the full paper HERE. KB
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