Opinion – Julio Abramczyk: The unpleasant heat waves

Customs may change from time to time, but for women who reach middle age, the unpleasant hot flashes of menopause, an exclusive phase of female life, are almost permanent.

In the treatment of hot flashes and other menopausal problems, hormonal treatment has been used. However, since its introduction, it has been the subject of debate in the medical field.

For physician Dolores Pardini, from Unifesp/Escola Paulista de Medicina, in a study published in the Brazilian Archives of Endocrinology and Metabology, some studies indicate a risk of breast cancer.

The incidence of adverse effects of hormonal treatment is low, and the risks are cumulative with time of use.

For this reason, the American Menopause Society announces, every few years, a statement regarding the treatment of menopause.

This Thursday (7), in Menopause magazine, the entity’s official body, published its 2022 Hormone Therapy Position Statement.

Initially, she says she reviewed existing data on hormone therapies after the last statement in 2017 and concluded that “what hasn’t changed is that hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment for vasomotor symptoms and genitourinary menopausal syndrome and has been shown to prevent bone loss and fractures”.

It also recommends risk stratification by age and time since menopause.

The 2022 statement also highlights that the benefits of hormone therapy outweigh the risks for most healthy women with menopausal symptoms, provided they are younger than age 60 and within ten years of the onset of menstruation cessation.