An old bias against hormone therapy is hurting Indian women

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Also read: Understanding metabolic syndrome, which affects 1 in 3 Indians In 2002, WHI released preliminary findings from a study undertaken to determine whether HRT protected women from heart disease and whether it increased the risk of breast cancer. The findings indicated that combined oestrogen and progestogen therapy showed elevated risks of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and blood clots among the participating women, and the study was halted. Later, meta-studies and clarifications repudiated many of the WHI findings, but a culture of over-cautiousness had set in—and continues to be an influential factor in the clinical treatment of menopause.

“Those women who need MHT should be given it," says Dr Paleshetkar. “Women who suffer from frequent hot flushes, night sweats, anxiety, body aches and insomnia, for whom other methods of treatment such as lifestyle management and supplementation have not helped, they should definitely consider HRT. It’s not fair that women spend so many years leading a sub-optimal life," she adds.

Doubts about the study arose within a few years of its publication. “The average age of participants was 63, and only 3.5% of the women were 50-54 years old, the age when women usually make a decision regarding initiation of MHT," notes a 2010 statement by the Endocrine Society of the US. It also had other flaws, such as the type of hormones prescribed to women during the study.