Menopausal hormone therapy in questions and answers – a manual for physicians of various specialties

Abstract

This manual has been prepared by the Expert Team of the Polish Menopause and Andropause Society for physicians representing various medical specialties who see patients with menopausal symptoms in their daily practice. In order to make the manual as practical as possible, the current state of knowledge on menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is presented in the form of questions and answers. They address issues which are essential for initiating and managing MHT based on the most up-to-date treatment algorithms and, at the same time, in line with the old maxim “ primum non nocere ”.

Position Statement by Experts of the Polish Menopause and Andropause Society on menopausal hormone therapy with an oral combination drug containing oestradiol 1 mg and progesterone 100 mg

“…In most women, oestrogen deficiency causes symptoms which significantly impair their quality of life, and leads to a number of long-term health effects [1]. The most commonly used, generally recommended and most effective method of relieving the symptoms of menopause, especially vasomotor in nature, is menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) [2,3].…”

Risk of venous thromboembolism during the use of oral estrogen-progestogen hormone therapies in light of most recent research findings

“…For nearly 20 years, there has been a heated debate on the benefit-risk ratio of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), which was triggered by the publication of results of the Women’s Health Initiative study in 2003 [ 10 ]. It has now been established that the risk of adverse effects associated with combined MHT, especially involving the mammary gland and the cardiovascular system, depends on the type of progestogen and the type and dose of estrogen [ 11 ]. A number of reliable studies indicate that from the point of view of the safety profile, the most beneficial form of combined oral MHT is 17β-estradiol with micronized progesterone [ 5 , 12 , 13 ].…”