Doctors used to give their female patients hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause believing that it had positive health benefits.

However, data from a large clinical trial cast profound doubt on these benefits. So much so that clinicians were encouraged to only give it to patients for symptoms related to menopause (hot flashes). Many women stopped their HRT.

Meanwhile, other women kept taking it, and the question remained. Does it put their life at risk?

Investigators working with the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery conducted a large review of research literature and concluded that HRT does not increase the overall risk of death from heart attack, stroke, or cancer.

Lead investigator, Khalid Benkhadra, M.D., a research fellow at Mayo Clinic, presented this data March 6, at the Endocrine Society 2015 annual meeting.

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Clinical treatments need to be individualized and patients are encouraged to talk to their doctors before changing medications.

Tags: Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, endocrinology, Findings, News