Navigating Hormone Replacement Therapy in Menopausal Women

Hormone replacement in the setting of menopause has been a controversial topic for the past several decades, despite half of the world's population navigating this change in their lifespan. Menopause can include uncomfortable and disruptive side effects in a woman's daily life. Often medical personnel are hesitant to prescribe hormones to women during menopause due to previous studies indicating that the risks from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) outweigh the benefits. These risks include developing breast cancers, thromboembolisms, and cardiovascular events. This review challenges these previous ideas and explores the risk-benefit ratio of hormone replacement therapy during menopause. Various factors need to be considered including the timing of HRT initiation, and individual risks. A woman's overall health risk factors for developing cancers, cardiovascular disease, and depression should be taken into consideration as well. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles should be included in; an individualized approach to HRT. More research is needed on hormonal therapies in relation to age, individualized risk factors, and benefits.