Families Online Magazine >> Women's Center >> Menopause and Menopause Treatments- Families OnLine Magazine

Menopause and Menopause Treatments- Families OnLine Magazine

What are the benefits and risks of hormone therapy?

Benefits: Hormone therapy can help with menopause by:

reducing hot flashes
treating vaginal dryness
slowing bone loss
decreasing mood swings and depression

DO NOT use hormone therapy to prevent heart attacks, strokes, memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease. Remember there also are other medicines that can help your bones.

Risks: For some women, hormone therapy may increase their chance of getting:

blood clots
heart attacks
strokes
breast cancer
gall bladder disease

For a woman with a uterus, taking estrogen alone, without progesterone, increases her chance of getting endometrial cancer (cancer of the lining of the uterus). Adding progesterone to the hormone therapy lowers this risk.

Hormone therapy also may cause these side effects:

bleeding
bloating
breast tenderness or enlargement
headaches
mood changes
nausea

Who should NOT take hormone therapy for menopause:
Women who…

think they are pregnant
have problems with vaginal bleeding
have had certain kinds of cancers (such as breast and uterine cancer)
have had a stroke or heart attack
have had blood clots
have liver disease

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