Therapy of hormonal replacement in menopausal women:risks and benefits

Abstract

Climacteric disturbances occur when estrogen production and secretion start to reduce. There are a lot of symptoms related to this phase, as osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, coetaneous and genitourinary alterations, sudoresis, warmth, anxiety and menstrual irregularity, which implicate in impaired women life quality. Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) arose searching an improvement of these conditions. HRT promises to reduce symptoms and to prevent many secondary diseases. In despite of an increase in its use among women populations, its effects at medium and long term are controversial. In this way, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the literature about risks and benefits of the hormonal prescription in the menopause. A careful analysis of several studies verified that risks and benefits differ among population or individuals studied. Actual tendency are decisions based in evidences from randomized clinical essays studies. An individualized analysis of risks and benefits is also indispensable, since possible advantages are also associated to probable disadvantages, which can vary significantly, depending on the historical health and characteristics of each patient.