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Hormone Therapy Safer After 65, New Study Reveals
13 Apr
Summary
- Continuing estrogen after 65 lowered mortality by 19%.
- Estrogen therapy significantly reduced various cancer risks.
- Vaginal estrogen is safe and has no age limit.
A recent study published in the journal Menopause in 2024 challenges the long-held belief that systemic hormone therapy should cease after age 65. Researchers analyzing Medicare prescription records for over 10 million women found striking benefits for those continuing estrogen monotherapy past 65.
These women exhibited a 19% lower risk of all-cause mortality, alongside reduced risks for breast, lung, and colorectal cancers, and fewer heart attacks. This evidence contradicts the fear-driven discontinuation of hormone therapy following a misinterpreted 2002 study.
While combination therapy with progestins shows increased breast cancer risk, this can be mitigated by specific formulations. Crucially, natural progesterone offered mortality and breast cancer reduction, unlike synthetic progestins. The study highlights lower doses, transdermal/vaginal delivery, and estradiol as optimal.
Vaginal estrogen, used for menopausal symptoms, is distinct and universally safe, even for breast cancer survivors. The Menopause Society confirms no age limit for hormone therapy; decisions should be individualized, not based on arbitrary cutoffs. This research urges a re-evaluation of hormone therapy for older women.
