What should you know if you’re a woman considering hormone therapy? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Hormone therapy helps women in both perimenopause and menopause cope with symptoms like hot flashes and sleep interruption, but choosing whether to take hormones is complicated. Wen Shen, a menopause expert at Johns Hopkins, offers some insight.

Shen: Estrogen therapy depends very strongly on the type of estrogen that you’re prescribed and also the method of administration. The natural ovarian estradiol is 17-beta estradiol. And not all estrogens in hormone therapies are created equal. Oral estrogens do increase a woman’s triglycerides. Oral estrogen therapy also increases a woman’s risk for clotting.  :32

Shen says the oral estrogen products are not likely to be the best solution for most women, and an experienced provider can help you navigate the many choices for hormone replacement that are available. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.