Catherine McKeown

I often have women messaging me to ask if there is a cut off age for taking HRT, or to ask what age they need to stop HRT. The answer is that there is usually no set length of time you should take HRT for - the menopause is a long-term hormone deficiency so women can usually take HRT forever to replace these missing hormones. However, after the Women’s Health Initiative Study was published in 2002, many women have resisted taking HRT, especially after age 65 years, because of fears of perceived risks. However, a new study has been published today showing that these fears are unfounded. The study also showed that women who took oestrogen only HRT beyond the age of 65 was associated with significant risk reductions in mortality, breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, congestive heart failure, venous thromboembolism, atrial fibrillation, acute myocardial infarction, and dementia. There were also benefits to future health in women who took combination oestrogen and progesterone. The most benefit was with transdermal oestradiol and progesterone. If you haven’t yet read the study, I would really recommend you do. The link is here: journals.lww.com/menopausejo… It’s also worth listening to this podcast I recorded with Dr Anna Chiles who is a GP and works with us at Newson Health as a menopause specialist, as we talk more about continuing HRT for many years during that: drlouisenewson.co.uk/165-whe… This article we have on our @balancemenopause website is also worth a read: balance-menopause.com/menopa…