We’ve been shouting it from the rooftops for years: Hormone Therapy (HT) is safe and effective for women struggling with menopause symptoms. The treatment offers life-changing relief for hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and mood changes; it also protects your bones and brain as you age. But thanks to the flawed 2002 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, which linked HT with heart disease, stroke, and breast cancer, most patients have avoided the treatment with a 10-foot pole—causing many women to just tough out these often debilitating symptoms.
Luckily, more and more research is proving the safety and efficacy of HT—including a brand-spanking-new study by Mass General Brigham. The study, published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, looked back at 20-years’ worth of data from 27,347 WHI participants who had hot flashes and night sweats. Researchers wanted to see if taking HT at different ages could at all be linked to serious cardiovascular issues like heart attack and stroke.
Once they crunched the numbers, researchers found that women under age 60 who used HT did not have an increased risk of cardiovascular issues. This was true for women who were taking estrogen only (an option for people who no longer have a uterus) and women on estrogen and synthetic progestin.
Study co-author JoAnn Manson, MD, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, tells Oprah Daily that HT also carries no cardiovascular risk for women who take it within 10 years of the onset of menopause. Hitting menopause at 55 and starting HT at 63, for example, is typically considered safe.
However, Manson and her co-authors also found that women who started HT after the age of 70 to treat hot flashes and night sweats had a higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, an umbrella term for illnesses caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries. Furthermore, HT didn’t even prove that beneficial for reducing hot flashes and night sweats in this population.
The news leaves women in their 60s in a bit of a gray area. The study recommends caution for women wanting to start HT during that decade, and that advice has to do with the 10-year rule mentioned before. Thankfully, Manson says that continuing HT into your 60s is typically not a problem—as long as you started it within 10 years of menopause or during your 50s.
If this news raises new questions or concerns for you, bring them to your OB-GYN to better understand the potential benefits and risks of HT specific to your particular health situation. (And women with a history of hormonal cancers like breast or ovarian cancer, for example, may still want to steer clear). But this new reassurance that HT is a safe (and effective!) option for some of the most frustrating menopause symptoms can open up a new door to relief for many women sweating it out in silence.
Cassie Hurwitz (she/her) is an associate editor at Oprah Daily, where she covers everything from culture to entertainment to lifestyle. She can typically be found in the middle of multiple books and TV shows all at once. Previously, Cassie worked at Parents, Rachael Ray In Season, and Reveal. Her love language is pizza (New York slices, Chicago deep dish, and otherwise).