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Questions and Answers: Hormone Replacement Therapy

Get answers to common questions about HRT

There’s no shortage of news reports about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and its potential benefits and risks. We asked Jefferson obstetrician/gynecologist Abigail Wolf, MD, to cut through the confusion with a high-level overview.

Keep In Touch: In lay language, what is hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and how is it typically administered to patients?                                                         

Abigail Wolf, MD: Hormone replacement therapy is a complicated subject. Essentially, it’s administration of one or both of the hormones that decrease in women during and after menopause. Those hormones are estrogen and progesterone.

Abigail Wolf, MD

Depending on a woman’s symptoms and medical history, she may receive estrogen or progesterone or both. These hormones can be delivered in several ways. They can be taken orally – as pills. They can also be administered via patches, creams and sprays on the skin. Sometimes they’re delivered by injection. And they can also be administered intravaginally or by intrauterine devices.                                          

KIT: What types of women are potential candidates for HRT?                                                

Wolf: Ultimately, HRT is most appropriate for women whose daily lives are disrupted by menopausal symptoms – such as hot flashes and night sweats – and who have few or no more menstrual cycles.                                                  

KIT: At a high level, what are the potential benefits of HRT? What are some of the potential risks?

Wolf: The primary benefit of HRT is relief of hot flashes. A secondary benefit is reduction of hip fracture and colon cancer risk.

Risks associated with HRT include deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, leading to pulmonary embolism and death. Other risks include development of heart disease and risk of breast cancer.

KIT: There always seems to be a lot in the news about HRT, and it can be extremely confusing. What is your advice to women as they digest such reports and consider whether or not to take HRT?

Wolf: I remind women that the studies on HRT are population studies that can help women understand risk and benefit ratios. However, each woman needs to make the decision based on her individual symptoms and clinical history.                                 

Jefferson’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers most types of traditional HRT and can provide some advice about herbal remedies, as well. The Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine has additional options.

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