In the 1980s and 1990s, doctors in the United States routinely recommended long-term hormone replacement therapy to postmenopausal women to treat menopausal symptoms and to prevent heart disease. In 2002, this practice stopped abruptly, when studies showed that hormone replacement therapy may actually increase the risk of heart disease rather than prevent it. Yet, hormone replacement therapy remains the most effective treatment for bothersome menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

For women who are approaching — or facing — menopause, these contradictory conclusions about hormone replacement therapy can seem impossible to reconcile. If you’re having a tough time with symptoms of menopause but worry about how hormone replacement therapy will affect your heart, (more…)