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However, the conversation is finally shiftingnow, you cant open Instagram without hearing about it.
Pete Thompson Photography / Gallery Stock
There are new treatments, toolike hormone replacement therapy.
What is hormone replacement therapy?
Currently, standard HRT is a combination of estrogen and progesterone.
Used in midlife, it also helps keep your bones strong.
Is hormone replacement therapy good for you?
Most doctors are now pro-HRT for anyone struggling with symptoms, although some remain more cautious than others.
Theres a need for more good-quality research on womens health issues, she says.
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials take years and are expensive.
I want women to feel empowered to advocate for themselves when speaking with their doctors.
All the experts agree that HRT is not right for everyone.
Its unlikely to be prescribed if youve had, or are at risk of, breast cancer.
Having said that, there are exceptions.
HRT is not a miracle cure, says Professor Mukherjee.
Many non-specific symptoms have other causes.
Medication is not automatically needed for natural menopause.
In fact, women have more agency than the monetized menopause industry would have us think.
She points me to a report published inThe Lancetlast year.
But its not anti-HRT, she says, just anti-misinformation.
This is, of course, excellent advice for anyone.
This can be mitigated by eating well and exercising.
There are menopause-branded beauty products, supplements, cooling packs, and, ridiculously, chocolate.
The practice of slapping the word menopause on a product and then doubling the price has been termed menowashing.
However, not all of these products are bad.
So a probiotic supplement with clinically proven ingredients, likeBetter Gut from The Better Menopause, can be beneficial.
Then, I was a lone voice singing its praises.
Now were sitting on a veritable iceberg of robust data as to its benefits and minimal risks.
They can then make informed decisions about possible treatment.
Despite advances in both science and attitudes, we still have a long way to go.
Were fighting millennia of medical gaslighting, sighs Frostrup.
But, for the majority of women, HRT has more benefits than risks.
