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Menopause RESEARCH MONITOR

A new chapter.
A fuller picture.

Menopause research, made easier to follow. Get the key takeaways on hormone therapy and a clear view of what product labels actually say.

Find your starting pointHow we work
Original sourcesVisible context
A quiet moment on a sunlit garden pathFIELD NOTES / 03
A fuller perspective
THE COLLECTION

Menopause, in perspective.

2Research monitors
5Distinct cited sources
Sep 5, 2026Latest study findings update
01CHOOSE YOUR STARTING POINT

Two ways to look closer.

Research findings and regulatory documents, each with the context they need.

01 / Evidence monitor

Hormone therapy

27%lower relative risk

Estrogen-only and continuous combined regimens probably reduced clinical fractures

Oral estrogen-only therapy probably had a 27% lower relative risk of all clinical fractures than placebo. Continuous combined therapy also probably reduced fractures.

Oral conjugated equine estrogen was compared with placebo among 10,739 postmenopausal women after hysterectomy, with seven years' average follow-up. About 30% were aged 50 to 59; applicability to current therapies is limited. Both fracture findings were moderate-certainty.
4 cited sources38 findings
Findings updated Sep 5, 2026
Source for this takeaway in a new tab

Study findings and product-label observations answer different questions. Each takeaway keeps its own source and context.

THE RESEARCH, AS IT ARRIVES

Latest studies.

The newest findings added to this collection.
The learning from each, already distilled.

  1. STUDY 01Findings added
    Hormone therapy
    TL;DR

    Continuous combined therapy probably reduced fractures; breast-cancer risk probably increased

    Continuous combined therapy probably reduced all clinical fractures but probably increased breast-cancer risk versus placebo. It may have increased stroke, blood clots in veins and gallbladder disease requiring surgery; coronary-event and lung-cancer differences were not established.

    Continuous combined therapy was compared with placebo. Breast-cancer, stroke, clot, coronary and lung-cancer findings involved postmenopausal women with an intact uterus. Gallbladder surgery included 14,203 participants. Only coronary follow-up is available here, averaging 5.6 years. Evidence was moderate-certainty for fractures, breast cancer, coronary events and lung cancer; other findings were low-certainty.

    Estrogen-only therapy probably reduced fractures but probably increased stroke

    Estrogen-only therapy probably reduced all clinical fractures but probably increased stroke and gallbladder disease requiring surgery versus placebo. No clear difference was established for breast cancer, coronary events, blood clots in veins or lung cancer.

    For fractures, oral conjugated equine estrogen was compared with placebo among 10,739 women after hysterectomy; about 30% were aged 50 to 59. Fracture and coronary follow-up averaged seven years; other follow-up is unavailable here. Applicability to current therapies is limited. All findings were moderate-certainty except lung cancer, which was low-certainty.

    Study details & original results

    Bofill Rodriguez, Magdalena et al.. Long-term hormone therapy for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2026.

    Risk of all clinical fractures with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo; probable reduction, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 0.78
    95% CI: 0.71-0.86

    Breast-cancer risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; probable increase, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.27
    95% CI: 1.03-1.56

    Stroke risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; possible increase, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.39
    95% CI: 1.09-2.09

    Venous-thromboembolism risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; possible increase, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

    RR 2.03
    95% CI: 1.55-6.64

    Gallbladder disease requiring surgery with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo; possible increase among 14,203 participants, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.64
    95% CI: 1.30-2.06

    Coronary-event risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study with mean follow-up of 5.6 years and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.17
    95% CI: 0.95-1.44

    Lung-cancer risk with continuous combined hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women with an intact uterus; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.06
    95% CI: 0.77-1.46

    Citation in Hormone therapy

    Risk of all clinical fractures with estrogen-only conjugated equine estrogen versus placebo among 10,739 postmenopausal women after hysterectomy, with an average follow-up of seven years; moderate-certainty evidence. The result was based on one study using oral hormone therapy, which may not represent currently used therapies, and only about 30% of participants were aged 50 to 59 years at baseline.

    RR 0.73
    95% CI: 0.65-0.80

    Stroke risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probable increase, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.33
    95% CI: 1.06-1.67

    Gallbladder disease requiring surgery with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probable increase, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.78
    95% CI: 1.42-2.24

    Breast-cancer risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 0.79
    95% CI: 0.61-1.01

    Coronary-event risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in 10,739 postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probably little to no difference after an average of seven years, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 0.94
    95% CI: 0.78-1.13

    Venous-thromboembolism risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; probably little to no difference, based on one WHI study and moderate-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.32
    95% CI: 1.00-1.74

    Lung-cancer risk with estrogen-only hormone therapy versus placebo in postmenopausal women after hysterectomy; possibly little to no difference, based on one WHI study and low-certainty evidence.

    RR 1.04
    95% CI: 0.73-1.48

    Citation in Hormone therapy
    2 key learningsRead original study in a new tab
  2. STUDY 02Findings added
    Hormone therapy
    TL;DR

    The model projected lower costs and fewer lifetime deaths

    Both strategies projected lower costs, more quality-adjusted life-years, fewer deaths and fewer atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease cases than no hormone therapy. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis favored both at all tested willingness-to-pay thresholds.

    A Markov model projected lifetime outcomes for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms, assuming 5 years of treatment. Transdermal estradiol was modeled for women without a uterus, and transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone for women with a uterus; all results are projections rather than observed costs or events.

    Modeled fracture gains came with mixed cancer projections

    Both strategies projected fewer hip fractures but more breast-cancer cases. Colon-cancer cases were projected to fall with transdermal estradiol alone and rise with transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone.

    A Markov model projected lifetime outcomes for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms, assuming 5 years of treatment. Transdermal estradiol was modeled for women without a uterus, and transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone for women with a uterus; these are projections rather than observed events.

    Study details & original results

    Gill, Elizabeth et al.. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Menopausal Hormone Therapy.. Obstetrics and gynecology. 2026.

    Markov-model projection comparing 5 years of transdermal estradiol with no MHT for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus.

    $135,396,560 lower cost and 33,196 QALYs gained per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection comparing the transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone strategy with no MHT for hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus, assuming 5 years of use.

    $127,738,990 lower cost and 33,083 QALYs gained per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Probabilistic sensitivity analysis for both modeled MHT strategies.

    Absolute dominance at all willingness-to-pay thresholds up to $200,000

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

    647 fewer deaths per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

    615 fewer deaths per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

    259 fewer ASCVD cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

    285 fewer ASCVD cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Citation in Hormone therapy

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

    181 fewer hip fractures per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

    183 fewer hip fractures per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

    87 more breast cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

    46 more breast cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and no uterus

    105 fewer colon cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Markov-model projection for 5 years of transdermal estradiol plus micronized progesterone versus no MHT in hypothetical 50-year-old women with vasomotor symptoms and a uterus

    18 more colon cancer cases per 10,000 patients over a lifetime

    Citation in Hormone therapy
    2 key learningsRead original study in a new tab
  3. STUDY 03Findings added
    Hormone therapy
    TL;DR

    Parkinson’s disease risk remained unclear across hormone-therapy analyses

    The overall estimate did not establish an association with Parkinson’s disease, and neither estrogen-only analysis did. One combined estrogen-progestin analysis found higher risk, but the multilevel combined analysis was unclear and the interaction test did not establish formulation differences.

    This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed hormone-therapy exposure and Parkinson’s disease risk. Underlying designs, participant characteristics, follow-up and evidence quality are not available in this summary, limiting causal interpretation.

    Study details & original results

    Macedo, Victor Fellipe Bispo et al.. Differential effects of hormone therapy formulations on Parkinson's disease risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology. 2026.

    Overall hormone therapy and Parkinson's disease risk

    RR 1.08
    95% CI 0.94-1.23

    Estrogen-only therapy and Parkinson's disease risk

    RR 1.01
    95% CI 0.81-1.27

    Estrogen-only therapy in multilevel analysis

    RR 1.03
    95% CI 0.83-1.27

    Combined estrogen-progestin therapy and Parkinson's disease risk

    RR 1.40
    95% CI 1.07-1.82

    Combined therapy in multilevel analysis

    RR 1.33
    95% CI 1.00-1.77

    Interaction test comparing Parkinson's disease risk estimates between hormone-therapy formulations

    p = 0.12

    Citation in Hormone therapy
    One key learningRead original study in a new tab
  4. STUDY 04Findings added
    Hormone therapy
    TL;DR

    Two ovarian-cancer prevention strategies differed in sexual-function outcomes

    Sexual-function worsening affected 33.1% after one prevention strategy (RRSO) and 16.8% after the other (ISDO) at 6 months. Higher odds with RRSO persisted at 12 months; hormone-therapy users within that group had no clear worsening.

    Nonrandomized trial comparing two ovarian-cancer prevention surgical strategies, RRSO and ISDO. Their procedural details are not available in this summary. The hormone-therapy observation had no nonuser comparison and did not establish a treatment effect.

    Study details & original results

    Lu, Karen H et al.. Patient-Centered Approach to Surgical Prevention of Ovarian Cancer: A Nonrandomized Clinical Trial.. JAMA network open. 2026.

    Clinically meaningful worsening of sexual function at 6 months after RRSO vs ISDO

    OR 2.00
    95% CI: 1.20-3.35

    RRSO patients with clinically meaningful worsening of sexual function at 6 months

    33.1%

    ISDO patients with clinically meaningful worsening of sexual function at 6 months

    16.8%

    Clinically meaningful worsening of sexual function at 12 months after RRSO vs ISDO

    OR 1.69
    95% CI: 1.09-2.63

    Sexual function and menopausal symptoms in RRSO patients who used hormone replacement therapy

    no significant worsening

    Citation in Hormone therapy
    One key learningRead original study in a new tab
4 of 5 study updates

Dates show when findings were added here, not when papers were published. Study populations and comparisons differ.

02 / KEEP THE CONTEXT

Understanding begins
with a closer look.

A clinical study and a product label answer different questions. Each deserves its own context, and a clear path back to the original document.

AI-assisted study summaries for general information. Read the original source and discuss personal treatment questions with a qualified clinician.

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THE MODERNDOC APPROACH

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A clearer perspective.

Read our approach
01

The source stays in view.

Every finding belongs to a particular paper. Follow it back to the original research.

02

Context comes with the number.

Keep the population, comparison and uncertainty alongside the result.

03

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AI-assisted evidence summaries are not a clinician endorsement or a personal treatment recommendation.