TY - JOUR T1 - Best practice for HRT: unpicking the evidence JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 597 LP - 598 DO - 10.3399/bjgp16X687097 VL - 66 IS - 653 AU - Louise R Newson Y1 - 2016/12/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/66/653/597.abstract N2 - Menopause is a normal life event for women and so it is not an illness or a medical condition. As our life expectancy has increased hugely this now means that on average, women spend nearly one-third of their lives being postmenopausal. This has resulted in more women being adversely affected by symptoms of their menopause often to the detriment of their families, work, and life in general. Many women suffer in silence and do not realise how effective hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can be at dramatically improving both their symptoms and also their quality of life.Around 80% of women going through their menopause experience symptoms but only a small proportion of menopausal women take HRT; in some parts of the UK only around 10% of menopausal women take HRT.1Symptoms of the menopause last far longer than most women anticipate, the average length of time is 4 years and many women still have symptoms after 10 years.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on menopause were published in November 2015 and should be encouraging for clinicians.2 These are the first clinical guidelines on menopause and provide clear recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of women with menopausal symptoms.The negative publicity which followed the flawed Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study over a decade ago led to many women and also numerous doctors being concerned and anxious about the potential risks of HRT. This has resulted in many women needlessly suffering from menopause symptoms and also increasing their risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease by not taking HRT.The WHI study was undertaken to look at the risks and benefits of older women taking HRT. The women in this … ER -