The main message from researchers is clear: avoiding menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) without real medical grounds can harm a woman’s health more than the therapy itself The Latest Evidence In 2025, the journal Current Obstetrics and Gynecology Reports (Chlebowski & Aragaki) published a major review based on 20 years of follow-up from the WHI trial and meta-analyses of other randomized controlled trials. The findings are even more interesting:

• Estrogen + progestin : does increase breast cancer risk when used long term.
• Estrogen-alone therapy : by contrast, reduces the risk of breast cancer and lowers mortality from it by 40% over 20 years of observation.
• A meta-analysis of 10 randomized trials confirmed this effect.
• For younger postmenopausal women, the benefit/risk profile of estrogen-alone therapy is significantly more favorable.

What does this mean for us?

For years, we lived under the shadow of fear, shaped by a partial and often misunderstood interpretation of the 2002 results. But modern science shows:

• MHT is not a threat but a tool that can genuinely improve quality of life.

  • The fear of breast cancer was exaggerated.

• Today, doctors tailor treatment plans individually, taking into account age, health history, and the type of medication.

So the real question is not “Should I be afraid of MHT?” but rather “How can I find the therapy that is safe and effective for me?”

For me, this journey feels like a transformation: from fears and myths → to doubts → and, finally, to an informed choice based on evidence. And perhaps it is time for us, as women, to stop fearing the old scare stories and start making decisions grounded in science.

Olena Tertyshnyk 22 september 2025