What is the role for a new medicine in managing menopause? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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There’s a new medicine to manage hot flashes, which many women identify as the most troubling aspect of menopause, a recent study reports. Yet Marty Makary, a surgeon and public health researcher at Johns Hopkins, says for many, effective treatment already exists.

Makary: Every woman needs to understand that there is probably no medication in modern medicine that has improved the outcomes of a population more than hormone replacement in postmenopausal women, arguably with the exception of antibiotics. Women who are on hormone replacement therapy after menopause live 3 1/2 years longer, their rate of heart attack goes down in half, they have 50 to 60% less cognitive decline and the brain fog of menopause and their bones are stronger.      :30

Makary notes that data from the Women’s Health Initiative that raised red flags about hormone therapy have since been disproven, so women should talk with their providers about the proven benefits. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.