id: menopausal-hormone-therapy
title: "Menopausal hormone therapy"
kind: intervention
summary: >-
  Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT; also called HRT or hormone replacement
  therapy) is addressed in The Menopause Society's 2022 Hormone Therapy
  Position Statement, which reports that hormone therapy remains the most
  effective treatment for vasomotor symptoms and the genitourinary syndrome of
  menopause and has been shown to prevent bone loss and fracture. The statement
  reports that for women younger than 60 years or within 10 years of menopause
  onset and without contraindications, the benefit-risk ratio is favorable for
  treating bothersome VMS and preventing bone loss. It also reports that for
  women who initiate hormone therapy more than 10 years from menopause onset or
  who are older than 60, the benefit-risk ratio appears less favorable, with
  greater absolute risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, venous
  thromboembolism, and dementia. This entry summarizes what the literature
  reports for navigation and is not medical advice.
evidence_strength: moderate
status: published
sources:
  - url: https://journals.lww.com/menopausejournal/fulltext/2022/07000/the_2022_hormone_therapy_position_statement_of_the.4.aspx
    title: "The Menopause Society — 2022 Hormone Therapy Position Statement (Menopause, 2022)"
    publisher: The Menopause Society (Menopause journal)
    date: "2022"
    note: "Effectiveness for VMS/GSM and bone; timing-dependent benefit-risk (early vs. late initiation)."
signals:
  - sig-20260710-hormone-therapy-guideline-recommendation
  - sig-20260710-hormone-therapy-early-benefit-risk
  - sig-20260710-hormone-therapy-late-initiation-safety
confidence: medium
first_seen: "2026-07-10"
last_updated: "2026-07-10"
notes: >-
  Maps to entities.yml `menopausal-hormone-therapy` (intervention); the id
  reuses the canonical entity id rather than re-slugging to `hormone-therapy`,
  keeping record and entity aligned and stable across runs. All three signals
  derive from a single source (The Menopause Society 2022 HT Position
  Statement), so confidence is medium. evidence_strength: moderate — a
  professional-society position statement synthesizing graded evidence; the
  underlying trials/meta-analyses are not directly cited. The timing-hypothesis
  benefit-risk distinction (early vs. late initiation) is a facet kept within
  this single intervention entry. Vasomotor symptoms and GSM are separate
  symptom entries and cross-referenced there.