04/13/2026
I was talking to a beloved friend of mine about hormone replacement therapy, and I felt it was time to express my thoughts about it
If you are in the transition years leading up to menopause or if you are within 10 years of menopause (defined as going 12 months without a period) then this post will benefit you
During my medical school and residency training, we were taught to offer HRT to every woman as that was the ethical thing to do to protect all women from heart disease, and osteoporosis. Everything came to a halt in 2000 when the Womens Health study came out. We were then told that HRT is a demon and that we were permanently harming a woman if we prescribed HRT.
A lot has changed since then, and the pendulum has swung to the middle where HRT is definitely something to consider if you are in the above mentioned category.
My humble request to all of you is that you deserve a thorough discussion with your GYN to conduct a risk benefit analysis and thus determine whether HRT is an option for you or not. There are many reputable sites on the Internet that can offer you this information so you can arm yourself with this knowledge before you have this discussion with your gynecologist.
You as the captain of your ship/body have the final decision on whether you want to start HRT or not.
Let me know if you want me to discuss this further in future posts. I know there is so much confusion regarding HRT.