Health

Facing menopause without hormone replacement therapy

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Prescriptions of hormone replacement therapy have plummeted by two thirds this century with experts claiming GPs are still influenced by scare stories about the side-effects of HRT published nearly two decades ago. Despite more recent studies showing these scares were overblown, many doctors are still reluctant to prescribe the drugs.

Experts believe GPs have ‘forgotten’ about middle-aged women and the life-changing turbulence many of them face.

Professor Mary Ann Lumsden, senior vice president of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said: ‘People stopped prescribing HRT. They forgot that the menopause occurred and can cause problems for women, the number of menopause clinics decreased dramatically and there is a whole generation of GPs who had no training in menopause medicine at all.’

Polling suggests only one in five women who could benefit from hormone replacement therapy are currently getting the treatments. The menopause, which commonly strikes in the late 40s and early 50s, can cause depression, hot flushes, and night sweats. HRT tackles these symptoms by providing oestrogen as the body stops producing it. Fears over HRT safety were first raised in 2002 when a US study suggested it doubled the risk of breast cancer.

Then in 2003, British research showed HRT significantly increased the likelihood of getting breast cancer and then dying.
Over the next few years the number of menopausal women on the drug plummeted. Many doctors simply stopped prescribing the pills for fear of the cancer risk. In recent years, however, the balance has begun to swing back in favour of HRT, with more recent studies have suggesting the cancer risks had been overplayed.

Evidence began to emerge that HRT also came with certain benefits – cutting the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer’s and strengthening the bones. Many experts now stress that while the treatment does raise the risk of cancer, it only affects a small number of women. For most women, the benefits outweigh the risks.