Less than 2% of women take hormone therapy for menopause likely due to past safety concerns, study shows
BOSTON - Fewer women are taking hormone therapy for menopause symptoms and it likely stems from an older study that raised safety concerns.
Menopause is gaining more attention in the media and online, but a new analysis shows that hormone therapy among women over 40 has declined to a low of 1.8%.
That's drastically lower than the 40% of menopausal women who used it before a study in 2002 suggested the medications could increase a woman's risk of breast cancer and heart disease. After that, use plummeted.
But more than 20 years later, it's become clear that hormone therapy is safe and effective for most women with menopause symptoms who begin treatment before age 60.
Experts worry that patients are still hesitant to use it and providers are still reluctant to prescribe it because they may not fully understand that the benefits for many women greatly outweigh the risks.