OUR HEALTH ADVICE – Studies highlighting risks associated with this treatment have broken confidence. But used well, it is of some interest in the most severe cases.
As a mirror image of their younger daughters who are increasingly wary of the contraceptive pill, many postmenopausal women no longer trust hormonal treatments for menopause. The figures speak for themselves: while one in two took hormone treatment in 2000, they are less than 10% today. This phenomenon is not unrelated to the publication in 2002 of a large American study which highlighted an increased risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease in connection with hormone treatment. With 20 years of hindsight, what do we know today about its risks and its benefits? Who is this treatment for?
Read alsoMenopause is a taboo, not a disease
Menopause is a natural process, which usually occurs around the age of 50. A woman is said to be in menopause when she has not had her period for more than a year. In practice, the ovaries cease to function and the hormones they produced (estrogen and progesterone) are no longer secreted. But the…